The commencement of dredging work in the Castlebar town river created a new spectator sport for locals this week as people stopped to stare at a number of diggers clambering up and down the main channels.
The work is part of a major clean-up announced for the river which is expected to tackle the huge build-up of rubbish and pollution gathering in the water for years.
Mounds of silt and sediment caked with layers of dirt and litter are being collected by workers and taken away by machinery. Everything from trolleys to household waste lies in the flow of the Castlebar River and it is hoped that this clean-up operation will be a lasting one for the town and act as a deterrent to further polluting behaviour.
Castlebar Town Mayor, Fine Gael Cllr Ger Deere, confirmed that the Town River will undergo a major clean-up over the coming weeks. As Chairman of the Castlebar Tidy Towns Committee Cllr Deere revealed that a joint effort by Castlebar Town Council, the North Western Regional Fisheries Board and the Office of Public Works aims to remove all waste from the river. The Tidy Towns Committee have performed tidy-ups in the past but have been campaigning for a comprehensive clean-up to be done for some time. Many stretches of the river are a serious litter black spot in the town and have impacted on Tidy Town awards.
Cllr Deere added: "There has been an ongoing problem with litter in the Town River and I welcome the news that efforts are commencing to clean it. However, I also urge the public to refrain from littering the river after it has been cleaned. Many of the items that are making the river unsightly are caused from anti-social behaviour ranging from dumped traffic cones to shopping trolleys thrown in at night. It will be a shame for it to become littered again in the future as a result of deliberate vandalism. While the volunteers with the Tidy Towns have done excellent work in the past, some items are too hazardous for volunteers to remove. I will continue to monitor the situation and look forward to the work commencing."
