Athlone has climbed four places over the past year when it comes to tackling the town’s litter, and nine places since September, according to the latest report on littering from Irish Businesses Against Litter (IBAL ).
The latest round of the survey placed Athlone in 22nd place out of 42 towns, up from 26th this time last year and 31st place in September, and found it to be ‘Clean to European norms’.
The organisers declared it a “very satisfactory result for Athlone”, with seven out of the 10 sites surveyed achieving the top litter grade, including the Fairgreen car park, Golden Island Shopping Centre, and Church Street and the town centre
However the report was critical of a “heavily littered” site at Sarsfield Square and St Hilda’s, which had “a general air of neglect”.
The report praised the “fresh and well presented environment in the town centre, with its attractive street lamps, flower baskets, planter trees, and seating”.
It also noted the good quality car park surface and signage in Golden Island shopping centre as well as well maintained shrubbery and an absence of litter.
The bus and train station also achieved a Grade A for their “tidy and well maintained environment”, and the Fairgreen car park was also praised for being litter-free.
Two approach roads received a Grade B, the N6 Bypass which featured litter on slip roads, and the Birr approach road which was criticised for sporadic scatterings of food-related litter. However the report found the Dublin approach road “creates a very positive first impression of the town”.
The residential area Scotch Parade was described as “a well presented low density residential area”, while the Sheraton Hotel was also found to be clear of litter.
