A four person environmental unit, working under the TUS programme and supported by the local residents' association, has been charged with the ongoing maintenance of Battery Heights, a development which has been warmly welcomed by Athlone Deputy Mayor, Cllr Aengus O'Rourke.
"Two years ago and with no community scheme in place to manage and maintain Battery Heights, the appearance of the area and the general environment became a problem," Cllr O'Rourke said.
"Individuals understandably turned to me for ideas and action and with their help and I was happy to get to work on a solution. Now, two years on, we have an exceptional solution in place, and I am glad to say, it is working extremely well.
"A new four person environmental team is operational, working under the TUS Programme and supported by the local residents' association. I want to sincerely thank Michael Toohey, the Tus co-ordinator, Linda Jo Quinn from Westmeath Community Development and Pat Nally District Engineer for their invaluable support along the way.
"The residents' association deserve great praise also for their work and determination to find solution. There are acres of grass to be cut in Battery Heights, verge trimming, weed and general litter control - it is a huge undertaking, but now all of this is brilliantly managed by our TUS team. I have never seen the estate looking as well or presented as well as it is today. John Daly, who resides in Grotto View, also conducts Trojan work keeping that particular area of Battery Heights in great shape.
"Securing money to install containers, purchase equipment and establishing the programme was the most challenging part of the process but we succeeded in the end and I am delighted everything has turned out so well.
"I continue to work closely with the environmental team and the residents' association, we have a number of new initiatives in the pipeline, for example, we plan to plant a community orchard and develop an array of community allotments in 2022.
"Finally, I want to also thank Ger Lacey and Joanne Naughton from Youth Work Ireland Midlands for their support and assistance over the past two years.
"Most importantly, I want to acknowledge the hard work of the Tus environmental workers themselves - they have been amazing to work with and on behalf of the entire Battery Heights community and I want to say a big thank you to them," Cllr O'Rourke concluded.
