Now is the time when tidy town groups across the country are working dawn to dusk in anticipation of the annual visit by judging committee members. It takes a special kind of dedication to make sure residential estates and public areas are looking their best and to gain recognition from the judges of this prestigious initiative.
Over in Shannon, the local committee are having a busy summer – cleaning, litter-picking and planting; but they also decided to put pen to paper to highlight concerns about a lack of support from the local authority.
Morning Focus producer Fiona McGarry has been in Shannon to find out more.
Clare County Council produced a statement in response to the committee:
“Clare County Council values the efforts which the residents active in public improvement works have made down through the years and are a proud supporter of the Shannon Tidy towns committee, having allocated €7,100 towards the refurbishment of bus shelters in the town in 2019 and supporting the replanting of flower beds in 2018 to the value of €900 amongst a long history of financial support. Project such as these enhance and generate pride in the local area. The Shannon Municipal district team meet members of the Shannon Tidy towns group on a regular basis throughout each year to discuss matters arising. The Shannon Municipal District was allocated €191,000 for the maintenance of green spaces in the district for 2019. This funding is spent on grass cutting and tree surgery. These services are no longer delivered in-house and are tendered on the open market using best practice public procurement. It is accepted that issues have arisen on the 2019 grass cutting contract in relation to the timing of cuts, quality of cuts and missed areas. A certain amount of these issues can be attributed to a lack of familiarisation of contractor’s staff with the area. Where this is not the case we continue to work with the contractor to correct these and we welcome reports by the public where a deficiency of cut arises. These will be investigated and resolved.
Shannon Municipal District has two outdoor work crews. Their duties cross the full gamut of works required in the public realm from road maintenance and improvement, drainage maintenance, sign replacement, footpath repair etc. They can be seen every day working at locations across the district which includes Shannon town, Newmarket on Fergus, Sixmilebridge, Bunratty, Cratloe, Meelick, Ardnacrusha and Althlunkard. In recent years, Shannon town has benefitted from investment in public infrastructure in Shannon town at locations such as the new pedestrian crossing at St. Aidans School, the enhancement of the “Slí na Mara” roadway, the new path and traffic calming at Bothar Na Rinne, the refurbishment of the Shannon Embankment walks and the soon to be completed Shannon Town Park. Through these and other projects, Clare County Council has demonstrated a commitment to the improvement of the public realm in Shannon and will continue to work with the tidy towns committee and other public groupings to enhance the Shannon Municipal District.”
