Fine Gael town councillor Alan Shaw has welcomed the latest IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter ) report which highlights the continued need for targeted investment in litter control measures all year around.
In the last four successive IBAL reports, Athlone has consistently improved its ranking and Cllr Shaw believes that this can be attributed to the strong working partnership forged between Athlone Tidy Towns Committee and Athlone Town Council.
“Athlone has improved from being a ‘litter blackspot’ in June 2009 to being ‘seriously littered’ in January 2010, ‘littered’ in August 2010 and now ‘moderately littered’ in the final standings of 2010. This trend is very promising and our challenge is now to step up to the next category which is ‘clean to European norms’,” said Cllr Shaw.
He added that the Tidy Towns Committee, of which he is a member, carried out great work during 2010 in enhancing the town and highlighting the need for the public to take greater individual responsibility in controlling litter.
An information flyer was published by Athlone Tidy Towns during 2010 called ‘Litter and the Law’ and this was distributed to over 5,000 homes throughout Athlone. The document set out the challenges for every individual to know and understand the meaning of litter, how to control it, and what your responsibilities are under the law.
Cllr Shaw also welcomed the plan by Athlone Town Council to ringfence part of the 2011 budget towards projects that can significantly improve our scores in both IBAL and the annual Tidy Towns Competition.
“Good planning by Athlone Tidy Towns and a continuing strong working partnership with Athlone Town Council will help us to achieve better results,” Cllr Shaw concluded.
