Litter blackspot in Dundalk left 'wrecked' just a day after being cleared
Louth County Council confirmed an alleyway near the Redeemer Church in Dundalk had bags and paper just a day after it had been cleaned
The alleyway beside the Redeemer Church in Dundalk has been "wrecked again" just a day after it was cleared according to Louth County Council.
The alleyway which was labelled a "litter blackspot" had been cleaned by the local authority earlier this month, however, a spokesperson for Louth County Council said just a day later "there was more paper and bags" in the alleyway.
There had been concerns that the local authority were not permitted to maintain the alleyway, however an agreement dating back to the 1970s gave Louth County Council control of it.
Councillors raised concerns at the May meeting of the Dundalk Municipal District and called for a timeline on the installation of CCTV.
Cllr Seán Kelly, Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council told the meeting that dumping is going to "keep recurring" because it is a "blind-spot".
The Fianna Fáil councillor said Louth County Council must find out who is carrying out the dumping and bring them to court.
"We need to get to the bottom of who’s doing it and take them to court because that’s the only thing that’s going to address behaviour in this area.
It needs to be seen in the local papers that people are being brought to court for illegal dumping," he said.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin councillor Antóin Watters called for Louth County Council to take a "smart" approach to tackle the problem and suggested a joint-approach with Gardaí.
"If someone is covered up, how are you going to identify them? So we need to be smart about how we deal with the issue," he said.
Independent councillor Ciarán Fisher also called on the local authority to consider relandscaping the alleyway as it "lends itself to dumping".
"You’ve a wall almost at shoulder-height and dumping is accumulating on the far side of that wall.
What about a bank that is sloped down towards the wall so rubbish that is thrown over will stay there. That might actually solve a lot of problems it might also make the alleyway more appealing if someone was to relandscape it," he said.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.