House rubbish being dumped in our streets’ bins

STREET bins across County Wexford are being filled with people’s house refuse waste.

Cllr Barbara Anne Murphy said fly tipping is becoming a major issue in the county. She said people are using street bins to dump their domestic refuse into, asking if this is permitted by Wexford County Council. Cllr Murphy also enquired if a survey of how homeowners dispose of their waste has been carried out by the local authority.

Director of Services for Housing, Environment and Emergency Services John Carley said: ‘It’s illegal to use street bins for waste disposal. There are ongoing surveys going on.’

Cllr Mary Farrell said the council’s draft litter management plan 2017 to 2019 contains some excellent ideas, including a schools’ education programme. Cllr Farrell said: ‘Supporting local tidy towns groups is vital.’

Cllr Michael Whelan said circuses are adding to the county’s litter problem by leaving behind posters on poles when they depart for their next destination. Cllr Keith Doyle said he is aware of rubbish being dumped twice a week in the same location in Enniscorthy.

Mr Carley said; ‘I’m delighted that people are recognising that there are a lot of positive aspects to the plan. We are working on our schools programme with communities and we have fined a number of people for fly tipping. We have cameras up and they have proven to be effective and we have taken a number of people through the court process.’

Cllr Deirdre Wadding suggested having recyclable material bins located alongside bottle bins at locations throughout the county.

Cllr John Hegarty said there is a scheme in place in North Wexford for the past two years whereby local communities are supported by the council with a view to keeping their areas clean.

‘Up to 120km of rural road areas are cleaned. It doesn’t solve the problem but it gives more ownership of it. There is a template that can be rolled out throughout the county.’

Mr Carley said Wexford County Council is looking at extending this scheme to the rest of the county.

He cautioned that recycling plastic costs money.

Mr Carley said: ‘It would cost more money but I do agree that we would like to be in a position to extend it if we could.’

Cllr Jim Moore said there are not enough signs notifying people about what to do if they find someone dumping rubbish and enquired about the efficacy of the 1800 number for reporting such incidents.

Cllr Moore said: ‘I have travelled around the county and I’ve been in many public places and I have never seen a sign saying what the public should do.’

He said: ‘As people have a nervousness about reporting someone we should make it as easy as possible for them. It’s very annoying, particularly when you see all the rubbish dumped from people who have been in a chipper half a mile away.’

Mr Carley said the 1800 number is used ‘quite an amount’.

He said the local authority has a leaflet on recycling, adding that there are ongoing programmes for recycling and cleaning receptacles across the county.

‘Maybe we could do more publicity on it,’ he said.