Ballinahown sets its sights on overall prize in Tidy Towns

Ballinahown residents are preparing a bid to win the top prize in the All Ireland Tidy Towns contest, after the locality was recently declared the tidiest in Westmeath for the fifth year running. The picturesque village has consistently increased its annual points tally in the tidy towns competition in recent times, and its score this year - 290 marks out of a possible 400 - was an improvement of four points on the 2008 rating. Ballinahown's strong performance earned it a bronze medal in its population category, and the village's points total was just 15 shy of that earned by the national winner, Emly in county Tipperary. The tidy towns adjudication report on the Westmeath village stated: "Overall one cannot help but be impressed with Ballinahown and the tremendous effort that is put in by the community. There is no reason why you could not win one of the top prizes." When asked if the local community now had the overall tidy towns award in its sights, Micheál Coughlan, treasurer of the Ballinahown Community Development Association, replied: "Absolutely. We're now a bronze medal winner so for next year we want to increase that to a silver medal and then a gold. That's a goal we're setting for ourselves." The strategy for achieving this is to be set out in a five-year Ballinahown tidy towns development plan which will recommend ways of improving standards in areas such as maintaining local amenities, wildlife, litter control and tidiness. This plan is expected to be put in place next year. The results of the competition were published earlier this month and the tidy towns committee in Ballinahown subsequently met to discuss the adjudicator's verdict on the village. "The feeling was that it was a very positive adjudication report and we appreciated the fact that we were given recommendations for ways in which we could improve. That gives us something tangible to work with and will help us prepare for next year," said Mr Coughlan, a native of Ballinahown who has served as treasurer of the village's Community Development organisation for the last two years. He said one of the reasons why the tidy towns effort in Ballinahown has been successful is that it receives support from the broader community and not just residents of the village itself. The tidy towns committee plans the village's long-term strategy for the competition, and workers from the FAS community employment scheme carry out work to improve the appearance of the village on a daily basis. One of the most important tidy towns initiatives in Ballinahown this year was the unveiling in May of an innovative underground system of bring banks, which was officially launched by county manager Danny McLoughlin. Mr Coughlan paid tribute the county manager and staff at Westmeath County Council, stating that the achievements of the village in the tidy towns competition to date would not have been possible without their support. The Ballinahown Community Development Association has been in place for over a decade and its remit extends to a number of areas besides the tidy towns, such as the operation and upkeep of the community hall. One of its newest initiatives, the Ballinahown Community website, was launched earlier this month. "The website provides a good way of communicating what's happening in the locality and it's a fantastic resource both for people living here and people from the area who have moved away from home and want to keep in touch," said Mr Coughlan. The website, which features a link to the 2009 Tidy Towns adjudicator's report on the village, can be accessed at: www.ballinahownvillage.com