Killarney has again paid a heavy price for the state of the commercial bin storage area in the Glebe car park.
For the second years running, the adjudicators in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) competition have criticised the condition of the area and they said the work undertaken to improve it was “insufficient”.
Killarney received the top A grade in seven of the 10 categories but the mark awarded for the Glebe car park was just a C+
“While works have taken place, it hasn’t been sufficient to lift this site from a seriously littered site. A ‘No Dumping’ sign (€3,000 fine) has been erected. Perhaps it’s time to consider how/why waste is generated in the first place and if there is the possibility to reduce the amount of waste produced?” the judges said.
They said the commercial bin area was still a poorly presented one, generating considerable amounts of litter and it was by far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Killarney.
Overall, however, Killarney has leaped from 28th position in the league table this time last year to 14th this week, having climbed to 20th in mid-summer.
The latest survey, undertaken by An Taisce officials, places Killaney in 14th place out of 40 towns and cities surveyed and it is clean to European norms. The judges said that, overall, it is a very solid result for Killarney and having seven top ranking sites this time around was a very strong result.
The IBAL adjudicators were very impressed by the Killarney coffee cup initiative and noted that it was very encouraging to see the town take the lead on banishing single use coffee cups.
They described It as a great initiative which has clearly had the required buy-in from enough cafés and restaurants in the town.
THE IBAL REPORT IN FULL
Killarney: 14th out of 40 towns/cities surveyed. Clean to European Norms.
Overall, a very solid result for Killarney in the IBAL 2023 league. There were seven top ranking sites this time around, a very strong result.
The commercial bin area in Glebe Car Park was still a poorly presented one, generating considerable amounts of litter. It was by far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Killarney.
It’s very encouraging to see Killarney town take the lead on banishing single use coffee cups – a great initiative which has clearly had the ‘buy-in’ from enough cafés restaurants in the town.
College Street: Grade A: The overall impression created along College Street was a very good one with a virtual absence of litter throughout. Road surface markings, signage, bollards, bunting, colourful flower boxes and tree planting all looked very well. There were minor litter items at the base of the blue
green industrial bins.
Main Street: Grade A: The streetscape along the Main Street was excellent with paving, wooden seating, paving, tree planting, bicycle parking, ‘olde’ style street lamps, etc. The whole street was
exceptionally clean, just one or two very minor items.
Killarney Bus Station: Grade B+: A freshly presented environment with some colourful planting and attractive paving. The overall impression was generally quite good but there were too many random
items for the top litter grade. The most obvious litter item was cigarette butts with lower levels of some food related items – mostly visible at the base of the benches and in the corner of the paving next to the shrubs and at the kerbs next to where the buses park. With a little extra effort and a more thorough approach to cleaning, this could easily be a top-ranking site.
Bohereencael Glebe: Grade B: Cigarette butts were particularly prevalent outside Dunloe Lodge. The two small electricity boxes had various items in/around including plastic bottles, clothing and a
discarded pumpkin. Hopefully, this is just a once off and doesn’t build up.
Glebe Car Park Commercial Bin area: Grade C+: We remarked in previous survey that correspondence was received with regards to plans to address this area. While works have taken
place, it hasn’t been sufficient to lift this site from a seriously littered site. A ‘No Dumping’ sign (€3,000 fine) has been erected. Perhaps it’s time to consider how/why waste is generated in the first place
and if there is the possibility to reduce the amount of waste produced?
East Avenue: Grade A: This tree lined area was exceptionally well presented and maintained. There was a complete absence of litter throughout, it was spotless.
Killarney Park at the Great Southern: Grade A: A wonderful expanse of green space with beautiful ‘olde’ style wrought iron seating, street lamps and winding paths. It was beautifully laid out and spotless throughout.
Upper Lewis Road: Grade A: There were no visible litter issues along this approach route. All appeared in good order.
Upper Park Road: Grade A: A very good impression was created along this road, particularly at the derelict site which had previously been littered – this time around there was a clean metal railing around the perimeter, creating a much better impression.
N22 Cork Approach Road: Grade A: This was an exceptionally freshly presented route with road surface/markings/signage in good order and pathway/associated grassy areas well maintained.
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