WEXFORD TIDY TOWNS RESULTS AND REPORTS

volunteer Monday litter pickers is recognised as contributing to the presentation of the village. Your involvement in the an Taisce Spring Clean is good to see both in the village and at Cullenstown Beach This is a great way to focus attention on this category by joining in with communities nationally for this popular event.

The black Duncormick Church sign at the pedestrian entrance needs attention as is looking faded and planting here needs to be cut back as it is starting to obscure it. The bins in the village area were clean and empty. Be careful when reviewing bins that they do not add to street clutter. Some towns in the competition are actively promoting a no-bin strategy, aimed at educating people to bring their rubbish home.

Good luck with your efforts to address dog litter. No signs of dirt were noted on this visit thankfully.

Residential Streets and Housing Areas:

Individual houses were well maintained with some very attractive gardens on show. The hanging baskets and planters to the town house brought great colour to the street and we hope the homes beside this will be completed soon. Keep up your high standards in this category and as you say involvement in the competition has resulted in many residents renewed commitment to maintaining their homes and gardens to a high standard.

As a committee you show an understanding of the relevance and importance of planting native species with your commitments to the Pollinator Plan. We noted the reference to the importance of gardens for pollinator in the notice board by the riverside walk. Well done on this. Is there scope to plant a native hedge to the pain block wall to the entry open space at Rectory Grove as it is very visible when exiting the church? We hope some of the newer residents of Duncormick will join you in your work as volunteering is a great way to meet new neighbours.

Approach Roads, Streets and Lanes:

Verges in the village were well presented with the long approach form the east especially well presented. The church steeple here is such a lovely landmark to signify the approaching settlement. The young trees past the shop show how effective trees can be, as they mature, in improving your approaches. All timber fences to the village were neat and well looked after. The raised bed at the approach from the west with its vibrant roses and flowering lavender caught the eye and the silhouette milk pail sculpture here is a nice touch.

Similarly the feature open space just before the old Lodge was immaculate with the twin sculpture seen here. . The car park to the riverside walk is quite tight and was busy on the day. Cut back overhanging branches form the purple information sign here.

Concluding Remarks: Duncormick is a charming village with a rich history and we very much enjoyed our walk around your community. The level of community involvement you enjoy is good to see as your involvement in Tidy Towns, as you say, helps bring together all age groups in your community.

All involved with this year’s entry are warmly thanked and congratulated for their efforts and wished well in 2019. We see no reason why you should not go from strength to strength in the competition given your outlook and commitment to the care of Duncormick, as evident in the submission.

ROSSLARE

2018 Mark - 322 (315 in 2017) Category C

Community - Your Planning and Involvement:

Cuireann an moltóir seo fáilte roimh Rosslare (Ros Láir) chuig Comórtas na mBailte Slachtmhara SuperValu 2018

agus chuig Ceiliúradh 60 Bliain an Chomórtais.

You seemed to start planning for the Tidy Towns 2018 competition as soon as the results were announced for the 2017 competition! The work that you have completed is plain to see. Your submission is clear and well laid out, in addition to being very methodical and easy to follow. Thank you for taking on the remarks of last year’s adjudicator. Your map this year has the features that we need. The list of projects was easy to view and your legend was very easy to follow under the various categories. The only improvement we can suggest is to make this map detachable, but that is nit-picking on our part. Yours is a model we really wish other groups in Tidy Towns would follow. It is much easier to ensure that all work is captured and to award marks when the work is presented in this way. Your diagram highlighting the various agencies and bodies that work together for the betterment of Rosslare as the ‘Pillars’ is a great way of highlighting the overlap between the groups.

We observed a notice in the community centre offering ‘Free and Friendly Companionship’ to older people through weekly visits and telephone calls. That is a sign of a very caring community. Whilst most in the community would appreciate the work being done in each of the Tidy Towns entrants, sometimes they are not aware of the work even though it is being performed in full view. We commend your marketing in your constant use of your signage while out working, and the use of your jackets. You say this encourages people to contact you and it’s a great way of recruiting. Streetscape and Public Places: On your main street, the trio of eateries, Wild & Native, Mia’s Café, and Kelly’s Deli formed a bright, colourful and well maintained streetscape, enhanced by their nice signage. The bicycle outside Kelly’s added a nice traditional touch. While the Centra on the corner was bright and clean, the plastic generic signage took from this prominent area. We appreciate that sometimes they might not have control over all of their advertising, but it might be worthwhile to consider approaching them to incorporate some traditional signage to the side of the building.

The footpaths throughout your town were in good repair. However travelling by car proved a bit more problematic. Would you consider having parking on just one side of your Main Street? When parking is in use on both sides it is impossible for two cars to pass.

Tackling the scourge of derelict buildings is one that is being given more prominence across the country. From a built environment, general environmental, and most importantly social point of view, this problem should be tackled. Your audit report to the County Council is the first step here. If you hadn’t highlighted in your submission that the former Cedar Hotel had been fully renovated, it would not have been possible to note that the now Coast Hotel was derelict last year. Given its prominence this is a huge asset to your Main Street area. Kelly’s hotel resort lives up to its 4 star rating. In the main car park the Pod did not seem operational. However, there was a new wooden hut that looks like it may be in action later on in the summer. This project can then be given credit for next year as a new project. The height restriction barriers were not in-situ. There were four camper vans parked in the car park. We can appreciate your frustration here. Cars seemed to be entering and exiting throughout our visit, but the vans were obviously there longer term.

The new wall at the water sports garden was not yet extended, although the current stretch was in good order. What was a particularly nice touch was that the beach stones to the inside of this ensure an echoing of the surroundings. This can then go as a new project for next year. Having never visited Rosslare Strand, we arrived at your community centre expecting to see a village hall. It was amazing to see the array of sports fields and activities around; tennis court, athletics track, soccer pitch both artificial and grass, a well-kept bowling area with recycled tyres on the wall, crazy golf with wonderful colourful planting. It truly is a marvellous amenity. The centre itself was very well maintained both inside and out, and a hive of activity.

The school building is a wonderful blend of the old traditional country school with a very sympathetic extension. The grounds were well maintained. The black railings echoed favourably some of the black features on the school building. Have any plans been proposed for a pedestrian crossing here? The post-box here needs to be repainted.

The Church was well maintained. Unfortunately the convent did not mirror this. The wall at the Garda station would benefit from some upgrading. The paths were in general good order and vegetation was not impeding. The work of cutting back vegetation and over grown branches is sometimes an action that is overlooked when considering the upkeep of footpaths; however these obviously would hinder use.

Green Spaces and Landscaping:

We can’t talk about Rosslare Strand’s open spaces without talking about your ultimate open space - the strand itself! What an amenity. You have improved on the natural infrastructure through the provision of extra facilities. There is a lovely seating area on the plaza area at the main entrance to the beach, with a nautical theme. The new seat donated this year by the South Bay Residents Association made from recycled plastic was noted. The open space next to the water sports centre is kept in good order. The planter in the centre was striking. The bird sign should be cleaned. The bright blue seat was very vivid but one slate needs replacing and the others should be cleaned. The cannon provides an interesting feature that should be highlighted better. While the planters on the roof of the public toilet block brighten this area, what makes it more impressive is the cross reference across a number of categories. Sustainable waste is covered by using fertiliser generated by Kelly’s hotel. It is also relevant under Community as you get the senior classes from the National School to see the compost area in action. Finally it is cross referenced to wildlife category as pollinator plants are being used. They also look well! The planting of herbs along boundary wall of the beach wall is to be encouraged. The planting at the cliff top is very impressive. Although with such a striking view, there isn’t any need to increase the planting here. Some of the furniture here could benefit from a cleaning, but in general this is truly a wonderful area. Kelly’s hotel was mentioned in a number of projects you were involved in, including the relocation of planters to here. The evidence is there that the hotel is a great partner. There were many designated seating areas spread throughout your town. From some obvious reflecting areas such as at the Bird Hide, to less prominent sites scattered around the town offering some welcome rest such as the bench opposite the school, which looked very well. It is important to have public spaces to enable community members engage with each other.

Last and by no means least, we feel we have to compliment everyone involved in the Rosslare Community Garden.

This restful area is well maintained and pollinator friendly.

Nature and Biodiversity in your Locality:

It was wise to seek the advice of the county council’s Environmental Officer for your sand dunes restoration project. The start of the work was observed. Having areas to highlight and nurture some of the nature and biodiversity areas is encouraged. The high level of accessibility adds extra benefit to your project to improve The Grove opposite the Catholic church. It was lovely to see the link way between the school and the walkway, as well as access for the general public. It is difficult to imagine this as a dumping ground.

The new bird hide was very impressive. Thanks to the residents of Southfield. Your use of pollinator friendly plants was noted. Please continue with this trend, as this aspect is increasing in importance. One third of our bee species are threatened with extinction from Ireland. This is because we have drastically reduced the amount of food (flowers) and safe nesting sites in our landscapes.

Everyone can play their part in small simple ways. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan gives guidance to all, from farmers to local authorities, to schools, gardeners and businesses, to come together to try to create an Ireland where pollinators can survive and thrive. http://pollinators.ie/ communities. Pollinator friendly perennials have the added benefit of generally being more cost effective. They have a potential life span of 10-12 years if properly maintained. Small amounts of annual replacement can supplement as well as complement plants already in place. For assistance in this category you can also check out http://www. biodiversityireland.ie.

Sustainability - Doing more with less:

The large composting area was noted behind the Men’s Shed (& Women’s Shed) complex. There seemed to be a lot of recycled materials being worked on here outside here. Please include all of the work done here in a future submission. While it is encouraging to see a lot of tidy towns group using rainwater harvesting for watering of the plants, it is always heartening to see when water reviews are taken to the next level. You have given examples of this at your community centre, e.g. that of having the tanks plumbed into the toilet system. We did see water tanks over at the Men’s shed in the community centre complex. We would be very interested in seeing the results of this, and from Kelly’s hotel monitoring of their systems, in your future submission. The water tank was noted at the back of the toilet block at the beach carpark. There were also a lot of empty five litre water containers. Were these used for watering?

The Bring Bank area was in a good condition with all of the bins being utilised. We particularly like the addition of the poster informing local residents of the types of items and the reasonable cost of disposing of items at Wexford Local Household Recycling Centre. Thank you for including your recycling figures from here.

The recycling bins were also spotted at the school. Do you have any figures on the amount of recycling achieved? Recycled pallets as flower boxes were put to very good use at Wild & Native. Well done on your successful attempts of having a charging point for Electric Cars installed. Tying in with the renovations at the Coast Hotel provided a win-win situation. This is a good example of your willingness to think outside the box getting results. Tidiness and Litter Control: If having an unsightly area was causing extra dumping near the recycling bins, that can no longer be used as an excuse. The brightly painted timber surrounds and planting would add to any area. The main bins at the beach area were clean and well utilised.

Your new youth group of Tidy Towns members is going from strength to strength. Working with our youth is such an important aspect of this competition. It usually has a twofold result; one on the actual clean-up day, and the other in the awareness of litter. Hopefully this will lead to the people involved littering less than otherwise. Your new youth Tidy Towns group are going from strength to strength. Well done on entering the School Award under the special award scheme.

While in general the standard of litter control was high, there was some litter around the community Centre. In The Grove there was some older litter spotted. In a town with so many visitors on a busy summer the standard was impressive. You gave a very good analysis of the dog fouling problem. The dog population has exploded but the responsibility levels have not kept pace. We hope that the actions you have taken place provide some positive results. If they do, you will certainly find a lot more places in Ireland copying them as this is a problem from the smallest village to the largest town. Just one observation we have from the many signs on the pavement relating to dog fouling, is that the pink colour seems to last longer than the blue. There were bags spotted for this in the dispenser on the beach.

Your methodical approach to projects is highlighted in your fly posting restrictions. Firstly you agreed that there was a problem and it needed to be addressed. Secondly, that you should provide alternative and proper facilities to allow people to advertise, by providing a noticeboard. Finally this led on to third part, that not only advertising posters were needed, but so too were extra posters providing information of historical and environmental importance. Your imaginative ‘sails’ community notice board had an interesting EPA notice on how the public can report pollution or illegal dumping.

Your participation in the ‘Love the Beach’ campaign was noted. Do you find that many take the time to complete the two-minute beach clean?

Residential Streets and Housing Areas:

Well done on your targeted approach to the various residential estates. Success breeds success and the more areas see improvements in other estates, the more likely they are to come on board longer term. Thank you for including photos of the barriers that were taken away as part of your Centre Village Upgrade. We can appreciate that much of the housing stock in your village must be only used as holiday let, given that your population goes from 1,500 in winter to 6,500 in the summer months.

In general your many estates are in very good order. You also have some lovely examples of individual houses. The cottage with the red door and matching windows on the Burrow road was admired. Grange Court was extremely well presented with the contrasting colours of the doors adding to this.

While new trees were noted at Cluain Aoibhinn, more would be of benefit here. Some on the green area need to be replaced. The landscaping at Seabury is very impressive and low maintenance. The planting outside of Drimage Close was well maintained. The equipment for the children’s playground was very well maintained. At time of adjudication the almost full bin was being emptied.

Approach Roads, Streets and Lanes:

The decorative stone beds as you enter village are a credit to