Tullamore Tidy Towns striving to maintain gold medal

Tullamore Tidy Towns is striving to maintain its gold medal in the national competition with initiatives such as tree planting, improving natural habitats, participation in 'No Mow May', and 'Adopt an Area' among some of the projects the group has undertaken.

The group outlined some of the projects undertaken, and those planned for the future, at its AGM in Tullamore Town Hall last week.

Chairperson Shane Murray welcomed the large attendance of volunteers to the AGM and thanked Tullamore Municipal District Senior Executive Officer Monica Cleary for the use of the Town Hall. He thanked Offaly County Council officials and staff on the ground for their support of Tullamore Tidy Towns as the group aims to hold onto its gold medal record and ultimately win the SuperValu Tidy Towns competition.

Treasure Seán O’Brien reported that the group’s finances remain in a stable and well-managed position. He informed the meeting that along with the purchase of bulbs, plants, trees, compost and various pieces of equipment, it was necessary to purchase a second hand van to support volunteers during the weekly work nights and to facilitate the watering of the large number of planters in the town by volunteers on a constant basis. He thanked businesses who have reached out to the Tidy Towns with financial donations and in-kind support, which has allowed the group to take on more projects and look forward to planning new projects in the years ahead. There is a 'donate' option on the Tidy Towns website for businesses and individuals to offer financial support.

Shane Murray thanked the members for their invaluable help at the work nights every Wednesday and Sunday mornings. He acknowledged the great help the group receives on an ongoing basis from local community groups and agencies, including the Offaly Volunteer Centre, Tullamore Canoe Club and from Offaly County Council’s Biodiversity Officer Ricky Whelan.

He said that the ‘No Mow May’ campaign was a great success this year and looked forward to building on this success in the years ahead, acknowledging the Tidy Towns group had an important role in highlighting to the community and local residents, the key environmental principles of the scheme. He said there was a balance to be struck with old school aesthetics and improving the natural habitat. There is no quick fix sustainable answer and the group looks forward to fine-tuning the approach with all concerned.

Shane thanked the volunteers, led by Deirdre Oman and Georgina Wilson, who washed, painted and re-crested all the refuse bins throughout the town, electrical boxes and addressed elements of graffiti, which has really helped to enhance the streetscape and he felt sure that this would be favourably commented on by the judges this year.

He thanked Mark Sheehy for his invaluable advice throughout the year on our town planting schemes. He said that many residents and visitors had remarked on how colourful and inviting the town looked. Shane thanked those hero volunteers who have ‘adopted an area’ and regularly do litter picks in their own time. This is a great help in identifying certain areas that need to be cleaned on a regular basis. If you, your business or related community group would like to get involved and 'Adopt an Area' please drop an email to info@tullamoretidytowns.ie and Tidy Towns will supply the materials/equipment you need.

Mention was made by some attendees that other towns have enhanced the roundabouts with planted flowers and art installations/sculptures on their approach roads and that Tullamore Tidy Town would look at this idea for next year along with revised boundary signage/planting on entering Tullamore.

Shane told the meeting that we had several ‘tree planting ceremonies’ throughout the year where fruit trees were planted in various estates throughout the town and surrounding areas. Minister Robert Troy was present at one of these ceremonies to plant trees in Hophill estate earlier this year.

He made a special note of thanks to Eddie Dunne who has been an incredible support for Tidy Towns this year as we took on the mammoth job of watering the planters around the town and this challenging task was supported by a team of volunteers who came out early on Sunday mornings.

Shane thanked Tullamore Credit Union for how they help keep the streets, business fronts and residential estates looking so well through their annual ‘Pride in your Place’ competition. This is a well-established annual event and gains new entrants every year and has a direct impact on our scoring in the national competition.

Shane said he wanted to give a special vote of thanks to the group's PRO Loughnan Hooper for his fantastic work on the annual application to the Tidy Towns Competition. He said that enormous time and effort is put into making what the judges said was ‘one of the most professional applications received’. Shane said that a good application form is very much a part of getting good marks in the competition.

PRO Loughnan Hooper showed the competition categories on a large screen and compared results in the various categories. He pointed out the areas to which the judges pay special attention, drawing attention to the areas where Tullamore was doing well and those where improvements need to be made if the group wishes to be in contention for the coveted top award. One of the main areas for improvement was the category of ‘Tidiness and Litter Control’. The group is hopeful that the concerted efforts of Tidy Towns volunteers and the Offaly County Council will be reflected in this year's results, due to be announced in October.

Offaly County Council's Monica Cleary told the meeting that Offaly County Council Director of Services Paul McLoughlin and the council recognise the great work being done by the Tullamore Tidy Towns volunteers and the council wants to work closely with the group into the future. She outlined the vision that the council has for Tullamore for the foreseeable future and said that they want to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to advance Tullamore as a preferred location to live, work, visit and do business and to make Tullamore the best town it can be.

Further information on the Tullamore Tidy Towns group is available on its website and social media.