‘It’s not nice to be driving home and seeing rubbish on the road’
KILTALOWN Lane in Jobstown routinely becomes impassable due to ongoing issues with illegal dumping and covert CCTV should be installed to combat it, according to a councillor.
Large quantities of illegally dumped material were apparent on the lane this weekend, with items including wholesale crates and household waste being dumped there.
Cllr Dermot Richardson (Ind) said fly-tipping on the lane has been an issue for the last two years, and it seems to be getting worse.
“There’s been a lot of rubbish dumped there in the last two years and it’s ongoing, it’s a blackspot,” he told The Echo.
“It’s not nice to be driving home and seeing that rubbish on the road, and cleaning it up is a cost to the council.
“The dumping is constant, it’s all the time. It’s like they’re opening the backdoors of trucks and vans up there and just throwing the stuff out there.
“Sometimes the lane is impassable because of the fly-tipping – that’s how bad it’s got.
“There is housing and a residential service up there, and they should not have to put up with this.”
The laneway leads to housing on Killinarden Hill and addiction treatment service New Hope Residential Centre.
“It’s having a very negative impact,” added Cllr Richardson. “If people are going up to New Hope or Killinarden Hill, the fly-tipping doesn’t show the area in a good light.
“There’s a lot of stuff being dumped, and it seems to be a blackspot – people think they can go up and dump and there are no consequences for what they do.”
Cllr Richardson said he has reported incidents of dumping in the laneway to South Dublin County Council several times over the years and the waste is removed, but the lane inevitably becomes littered again.
He’s calling for the installation of CCTV in the laneway, to catch the culprits and to deter people from illegally dumping waste there.
“Investigations aren’t enough,” said Cllr Richardson. “We need a camera system to stop the dumping.”
A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said that three reports of dumping on Kiltalown Lane had been received so far this year.
Two fines were issued in relation to the dumping, and when the most recent report was received on March 6, the council searched the waste for evidence, but none was found.
“The warden works closely with our Waste Enforcement section in relation to illegal dumping and all items found are thoroughly searched with a view to gathering evidence of offenders,” said the spokesperson.
“There has been one big clean-up done so far this year on Kiltalown Lane and another is scheduled for this Saturday, April 13.
“Works were carried out in
2022/2023 to introduce public lighting and boundary treatments along Kiltalown lane to discourage activity in the area and so far, this has worked.
“This lane is not currently on our list of sites for consideration re CCTV, but if the problem persists it may be added.
“As always, the council is very appreciative of information received from members of the public in relation to issues of littering and illegal dumping and would encourage anyone who has information in relation to same to contact the council on 01-4149000 or info@sdublincoco.ie.”
