Despite the improvements area is still branded as ‘littered’ in IBAL survey
By Mary Dennehy
WHILE Tallaght has improved its rating in a national litter survey, the area is still branded as being ‘littered’ – with Kiltalown Lane described as a ‘litter blackspot’.
This week, the most recent Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) results were published, with Tallaght recording some improvement on last summer’s survey, but remaining ‘littered’.
Kiltalown Lane was covered in litter on Tuesday
According to the IBAL results, five of the sites surveyed locally received the top litter grade, Tallaght Village, Sean Walsh Park and the residential area of St Maelruain’s Park.
However, other areas did not fare as well, with ‘significant litter levels’ throughout the area of Brookfield View.
According to IBAL, ‘by far the most heavily littered site’ surveryed in Tallaght was Kiltalown Lane.
“This litter blackspot wasn’t just casually littered but subject to huge levels of dumping”, IBAL said.
Kiltalown Lane has for a number of years been on the radar of local residents and volunteer groups, which regularly report illegal dumping on the lane and organise clean-ups.
This is the second nationwide litter survey by the business group since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The most recent study highlights a continued rise in litter levels across the country, with, in particular, further increases in PPE and coffee cup litter.
The nationwide survey results also reveal that for the first time in 13 years, fewer than half of the towns surveyed were deemed clean.
The categories underwhich areas are surveyed are Seriously Littered, Littered, Moderately Littered, Clean to European Norms and Cleaner than European Norms.
According to IBAL, litter levels rose in 24 of the 37 towns and cities inspected by An Taisce at the end of 2020, resulting in only 17 being judged ‘clean’.
This represents a fall of over 25 per cent on last summer and in sharp contrast to just three years ago, when 80 per cent were clean.
Conor Horgan, IBAL spokesperson said: “The decline in cleanliness is less a case of the poorer areas getting worse, but of previously clean towns slipping to littered.
“Covid is clearly a factor here, but we should never accept litter as inevitable.
“It comes down to people disposing of their waste without regard for their surroundings or their fellow citizens and it is entirely unnecessary.”
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