Extra Bins For Summer Rubbish Bonanza

atest press release from Cllr Lourda Scott and Cllr Jodie Neary, issued on Wednesday, April 28th 2021…

Cllrs Jodie Neary and Lourda Scott submitted a joint motion to Greystones Municipal District meeting this week seeking a new bin collection schedule to deal with the issue of overflowing bins and litter during summer months.

As a result, the Council committed to putting in place a number of temporary special bins to deal with the unprecedented rise in litter across the District.

Speaking on the issue, Social Democrats Cllr Jodie Neary said “I’m delighted our joint motion was passed and there is a commitment to add a number of temporary special bins to reflect the unprecedent rise in litter since Covid. It was a timely motion with the better weather and longer days kicking in, a time when people are out more, getting take-aways or having picnics. But it also means a scourge of overflowing bins across the District. Covid restrictions have seen more people out and about in local areas, while during non- COVID times, Greystones was becoming more of a destination town connected by the Cliff Walk. The result is always, more litter.

“Many times we have asked the Council to look at revising the bin collection schedule instead of having the usual ‘one man with a van’ doing the rounds. The answer is often that we need to rely on people to be personally responsible but as more people come to visit or use our recreational spaces and with the additional population growth, this is an unsustainable way to manage litter. Ultimately, it’s Tidy Towns and clean up groups that end up having to deal with more rubbish on the street – saving the council money. I have been collecting bags of rubbish that parents have been filling from various playgrounds across the district – we shouldn’t have to rely on good will all the time”.

Green Party Cllr Lourda Scott who also proposed the motion says, “the problem of overflowing bins in the Greystones District has become a very common and unpleasant sight in the area. Seeing bags of litter propped against bins that are packed to the brim is not only unhygienic but is also bad news for the environment with bits of litter and plastic blowing into the sea. This has been exacerbated during the pandemic with people restricting their movements to the same area and buying more takeaway food and beverages. However, even in normal times the resources allocated to the area is not in line with the pace of development that we are all familiar with.

“In the summer months in particular, Greystones is a popular tourist town attracting many visitors on the DART and Cliff walk, which bring a welcome boost to our local economy However increased numbers of people living and visiting the area lead to more rubbish and require additional resources to be allocated by the Council. While personal responsibility is important, the Council also has a responsibility to manage litter bin collections to be able to keep up with the demand. It makes sense that more frequent collections occur during the busy summer period and help keep our beautiful town litter free.”

Here’s a breakdown of the new measures…

– Extra bins will be provided Friday 30th in Burnaby Park, Playground and South beach areas.
– Six large barrel type bins will be placed at these locations for the months of May, June, July and August and will be reviewed then.
– The Council have more of these type of bins in stock and these can be added if other litter black spots emerge.
– Separately the Council hope to provide at least 4 special bins to accommodate empty pizza boxes as these are causing particular issues for us. These should be arriving shortly.
– The Council can review other towns and villages in the district if a litter problem develops.
Irish Water is working at this time, with our Local Authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard the health and well-being of both staff and the public and to ensure the continuity of critical drinking water and wastewater services. Irish Water would like to remind people to follow the HSE COVID-19 advice and ensure frequent handwashing.

“Myself and my fellow Councillors raised the issue last year but were told that nothing could be done,” continued Scott. “This year myself and Cllr Neary are flagging this problem to the officials well in advance so that they have time to plan ahead. We were delighted with the response to our motion this month where a commitment to include pizza bins were promised and agreed with Greystones Tidy Towns.

“We look forward to seeing the outcome of this initiative and hope it will help in dealing with the problem of litter until Greystones gets more council staff to properly address the issue,” concludes Cllr Scott.