Concern over Tidy Towns funding change
Sweeping changes in how money is allocated to Tidy Towns groups which means that groups in big towns like Dundalk have to compete against smaller rural communities has been branded as ‘ridiculous’.
Cllr Emma Coffey, acting chairperson, said at the May meeting of the Municipal District of Dundalk that she had received a letter for the Dundalk Tidy Towns Committee outlining how they had been told that they were no longer entitled to a Tidy Town’s budget as the available funding was now being put into a capital fund and each Tidy Towns committee would have to make an application for their project.
Dundalk Tidy Towns had only been allocated €2,500 which would not be sufficient for the works they were undertaking ahead of the judging for the national Tidy Towns competition which gets underway in June.
In addition the Fleadh was coming to the county this summer, with all hotels and B&Bs booked up and a lot of tourists expected to visit the town.
The Tidy Towns committee struggle to raise funds each year, Cllr Coffey noted, and now they had to send a begging letter asking why they can’t get the budget funding released.
‘When is the money going to be released and why was it changed to a capital fund?’ she asked, noting that the previous system had always worked. She wondered if it was related to what had happened in Drogheda over the pay parking charges.
‘Dundalk is a big town, I don’t except that each Tidy Towns Committee should have a level playing field as it should be based on population,’ she argued.
Cllr Maria Doyle also wanted to know why the changes had been made and how news of the changes was communicated to the Tidy Towns groups. It was her understanding that Dundalk Tidy Towns carries out a lot of work and would have received around €40,000 in previous years.
Cllr Maeve Yore said that while Dundalk Tidy Towns had got €45,000 for the last number of years they wouldn’t be getting it going forward, She didn’t think it fair that Dundalk would only get €2,500.
The explanation for funding was ‘a bit woolly’ complained Cllr Anne Campbell.
She said that while it was stated that the amount of the grants was ‘commensurate with the works and size of the community’, she couldn’t understand how Dundalk was getting €2,500 and smaller communities were getting €2,200.
She wanted further insights into how the funding was allocated.
Cllr Conor Keelan recalled that the budget for Dundalk Tidy Towns had been set by Dundalk Urban District Council and Town Council in the past and now that budget of €45,000 was under threat as it was proposed that funds be allocated on a county-wide basis with each committee bidding for funds.
He pointed out that 61 per cent of Louth’s population was in urban centres of Dundalk, Drogheda, Ardee and Dunleer.
‘ That Dundalk should have to beg on its hands and knees for money is an utterly ridiculous decision,’ he declared.
Cllr Peter Savage ruffled the feathers of his town based colleagues when he suggested that Tidy Towns committees in rural areas are more active, doing more work and winning more medals. He was appalled at the litter in Dundalk and said he ‘ had never seen anyone in Dundalk out cleaning the streets at 4am.’
Cllr Thomas Sharkey believed it was time to look anew at how they allocate public funds.
He also questioned the success of the Tidy Towns campaigns if people were still littering.
‘Why has a system which has been in place since 2006 changed,’ asked Cllr Coffey, while Cllr Doyle wanted to know if the changes had been agreed by the Housing SPC.
Cllr Edel Corrigan said she had asked previously about the issuing of fines for those who were littering and as far as she was aware not one fine had been implemented. They needed to look at disciplinary action if they were talking about changing attitudes.
Council official Alan Sherry said he would report back to the Director of Service with the issues raised.