Published: Wednesday, 8th September, 2010 5:30pm

Council to deploy cameras to catch illegal dumpers

Athlone Town Council will soon use CCTV to catch people illegally dumping, in a bid to get rid of Athlone's dirty old town image.

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke called on the council to adopt a "zero-tolerance attitude" to illegal dumping and littering in the town. The thorny issue of the IBAL report was discussed at Monday's town council meeting, in which Athlone was ranked 48th out of 53 towns.

"We are to an extent, losing the battle, we need to do things differently," said Cllr O'Rourke. "The IBAL report shows that it's a fact that our town is littered very seriously."

He said that there was almost daily cases of fly tipping, illegal dumping and people throwing rubbish from cars. He said that using CCTV cameras would make it easier for the council to prosecute people. He pointed out that the average number of litter fines issued by the council on average every year was 20. He predicted that with CCTV the council would issue around 70 fines per year.

"Can we afford it? In my opinion we cannot afford not to do it... It would pay for itself over two years, and then fund itself, even at the rate of €150 per fine, which in my opinion is not enough," he said.

He said that Kildare County Council issued 35 fines the year before CCTV was introduced. After the first year, the fines increased to 105 and in the second year increased to 117 fines.

Cllr Paul Hogan support Cllr O'Rourke's motion but criticised the methods behind the IBAL report. "I've been hugely critical of the IBAL reports for two reasons; one, Dr Tom Kavanagh has refused to come in to this local authority and two, there's no photo evidence," he said. "Of the ten sites listed, five are approach roads and one is the 'Moate exit on the west side of town', where is that?"

"The lack of transparency is very difficult," agreed Cllr Buckley Byrne. "It's just a shame that the town comes out looking bad."

Cllr Mark Cooney suggested that the council should prosecute businesses who fail to keep their premises tidy.

"Business premises are complaining that others make no effort. We should give them a warning and then prosecution. There is an obligation on owners of business premises to clean up outside their premises, whether or not they are the ones that littered. It is unfair, but we should use the law that's there."

He also suggested that if the council installed a few more rubbish bins then perhaps people could "hold on to their litter for a few more meters".

Athlone's Director of Services Barry Kehoe said that CCTV is something everyone was in favour of and that it is being pursued. "Cameras will be shortly in operation."

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