Nenagh is ‘cleaner than European norms’
With Tidy Towns judging season underway, Nenagh received a welcome boost this week with a ranking of seventh in the national IBAL Anti-Litter League.
Having been absent from the league for several years, Nenagh returned as the only Tipp town surveyed by An Taisce on behalf of Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL). It was one of 14 of the 40 towns and cities surveyed to be deemed “Cleaner than European Norms”.
“An excellent result for Nenagh with no heavily-littered sites and all bar two getting the top litter grade,” An Taisce's report on Nenagh reads. Ten sites were surveyed and all received an A rating, apart from the Kenyon St Car Park and Martyrs Road, both of which were given a B. Fault was found with littering at the bottle bank in the car park, while there was an absence of litter bins at Martyrs Road as well as a buildup of litter in the storage area of one business premises.
Overall however, the report on Nenagh was very positive with the town's main street scoring the top grade in spite of the noted number of closed or vacant premises. “There was a virtual absence of litter throughout this long street,” the report states of Pearse St.
Elsewhere, Nenagh's “approach roads presented well, creating a positive first impression of the town”. The report authors were particularly impressed with Nenagh Railway Station and the “lovely feature” of a ‘water column’ indicating the significance of same during the era of the steam locomotive”.
The grounds of Nenagh Castle were “exceptionally clear of litter”, while the Castle Garden was described as “an oasis of calm with lovely seating and an abundance of birdlife enjoying the planting”.
DEPOSIT RETURN SCHEME
The Deposit Return Scheme provision for plastic bottles and cans at Lidl was surveyed and declared a “spotless facility”. This was the first IBAL survey undertaken since the introduction of the scheme and it found a near 30% fall in the prevalence of can-related litter since the previous survey. While plastic bottles were also less common than in any past survey, they remained the third most prevalent form of litter on our streets. Coffee cup, chewing gum and cigarette butt litter also remained commonplace.
Naas received the top ranking in the country while Galway's inner city slipped to the bottom of the table, followed by DubIin City Centre, North Inner City and Ballymun.
“Our study paints a much better picture than a few years ago, with levels of cleanliness definitely rising,” said Conor Horgan of IBAL. “Once again, no town was judged to be either a ‘litter blackspot’ or ‘heavily littered’ – that’s real progress.”