Residents appeal for council to halt illegal dumping in lane ‘hotspot’
By Laura Lyne
CALLS to tackle an illegal dumping hotspot in Tallaght have been made as residents fear a serious accident will happen if the rubbish is not cleared from a busy traffic area.
A number of local residents have raised their concerns about illegal dumping at Kiltalown Lane, which includes household waste, garden furniture and old appliances.
One local resident contacted The Echo about their concerns surrounding the dumping, and said that it will cause a serious accident on the road if it is not cleared.
They told The Echo: “It’s been seven weeks now. The council and the litter warden know about it, but to no avail.
“It’s gotten worse. People are adding to it from all over the place. There’s household rubbish, garden material, there was a cat at the bags today and it’s only going to get worse with the bin charges.
“You just get fed up with it. All the litter warden does is come and look at it, and then they have to go report it back to the council. It’s a massive waste of money. There’s nobody collecting it.
“The road is used a lot. Everybody in the area is talking about it. It’s already a dangerous lane and with the location it’s in, it’s going to cause an accident and kill someone sooner rather than later.”
More than €1,307,747 was spent on clearing and disposing of 3,811 tonnes of illegal waste in South County Dublin last year, with local TD Sean Crowe calling it an “ongoing problem”.
Deputy Crowe said: “It is soul-destroying to wake up and see your green space or area strewn with rubbish bags or worse.
“It is not always easy for residents to intervene or stop this dumping and some areas are worse than others.
“At a time when resources are extremely scarce for community-led projects, we need a new and fresh approach to illegal dumping.”
When contacted by The Echo a council spokeswoman said: “The Council is very proactive in its approach to managing flytipping / illegal dumping, and in consultation with the Elected Members of South Dublin County Council, made a new Litter Management Plan 2015-2019 in October 2015
“All complaints of illegal dumping / flytipping received through Membersnet/ FixYourStreet/ Customer Care are fully investigated, and at present we are currently examining a more focused approach to dealing with sites which are prone to repeat/ acute illegal dumping instances
“I can confirm that a complaint was received on 13th June regarding rubbish dumped on the road. While the calling customer alleged having phoned on a number of occasions there was no previous record of complaint on our systems”.
