Ballycanew riding high in latest Tidy Towns results
BALLYCANEW Tidy Towns are flying high today after scooping a number of awards at yesterday’s Tidy Towns awards.
The hard working committee scored a total of 310 points in the competition, an increase of four since last year’s results.
Their high mark saw them take the county award for the five year in a row as well as taking the Gum Litter Taskforce award for Villages and Small Towns. Ballycanew were also named joint regional winners in the Youth Award category.
Chairperson Lili Masterson said the committee is over the moon with the award.
‘We really didn’t think we would get the county award for the fifth year in a row. It’s amazing. This year we did a total of 74 projects in the village so the four extra marks we received were very hard earned. We did a lot of projects with the youth throughout the year as well including a wildlife project and the revamping of what was the recycling area into a recreational seating area.
‘For the Gum Litter Award we also put in a lot of work and also worked with the young people. We designed a competition for them to create a new slogan and symbol and that’s displayed in the village. In addition to that we had a whole awareness day.’
Lili who was in Dublin for the awards ceremony said it was an anxious but exciting day. ‘ There was a great atmosphere there. It’s always a great occasion waiting for the results.
‘We have being entering the competition for the past 21 years. We were last when we started and now we have won the county award for five years running.’
It wasn’t the only honours for the district with Enniscorthy Tidy Towns receiving a bronze award in its category, category E while Ferns Tidy Towns received a value water award.
The judges felt that the three year plan outlined by Ballycanew Tidy Towns sets out ‘achievable targets for the year ahead incorporating a review by 2018. Your committee of sixteen members is obviously hard working and communicates well with your Junior Tidy Towns, secondary and primary Schools, residents and local business.
‘Litter control is an area that you obviously take seriously and the re- sults are there for all to see. We are delighted to hear that you are included in the Wexford County Council Spring Clean and that the school children and youth group are involved in your litter clean ups.’
In respect of Enniscorthy the judges noted that the town ‘ has an impressive array of buildings, both new and old, including the castle and1798 centre, now a central focal point of your tourism industry. A visit to the castle and the revamped national 1798 centre were highlights of the visit. The grounds of the 1798 centre are excellently presented and complimentary to the tasteful contemporary design of the building. The access ‘Bridge to Democracy’ was colourfully adorned by some well chosen, annual flower presentations. In the town centre the cleaning of your various monuments and plaques was very successful and has brought a new visual freshness to these important historic features. Higher up in the town the freshly painted Athenaeum building looks well, an improvement becoming to its historic significance.’
Ferns also received high praise from the judges. ‘Historic Ferns has a wonderful monastic story to tell. Sometimes this is difficult to appreciate because of the large volume of traffic moving through the town. The proposed by-pass relief road when complete will offer an opportunity of a more pedestrian friendly zone and should greatly improve the visitor experience. The Castle ruin is well presented and had a good number of visitors on the day of adjudication. The adjacent contemporary Office of Public Works Centre is sympathetically designed and the ‘Ferns Tapestries’ were impressively exhibited.
Category A marks: Bree (305), Ballyduff (291), Marshalstown (261), Camolin (253).
Category B marks: Ballycanew (310), Clonroche (306), Ballygarrett (300), Kilmuckridge (289) Kilanerin (286), Askamore (283), Courtnacuddy (263), Oylegate (253), Hollyfort (244), Courtown Harbour (233)
Category C marks: Bunclody (280), Ferns (280), Coolgreany (271)
Category E marks: Enniscorthy (297), Gorey (291)
Paul Kelly, Chairman of the Gum Litter Taskforce, said: ‘ The Tidy Towns Awards are a great opportunity to encourage the whole community to come together for a couple of hours every week and improve the visual appearance of their hometown or village. Taking part in the TidyTowns initiative has proven to be a successful method to overcome littering in both small and large towns.’