‘An excellent result’ for Tullamore in litter survey

Lloyd Town Park in Tullamore has been described as "a gem" in the latest litter survey by business group, Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL), which saw seven of the ten sites surveyed across Offaly's county town achieve 'Grade A' status.

Tullamore retained its status as being 'Cleaner than European Norms' in the end-of-year survey by IBAL and, and for the third time in a row, the town achieved a top ten finish, moving up from a 7th place ranking in June of last year to a 5th place finish in the latest survey. The judges described Tullamore's ranking as "another excellent result".

The 5th place finish is a significant improvement on the mid-year survey for 2024 which ranked Tullamore in 19th place, and the end-of-year survey for 2023 when the town achieved a 23rd place ranking among 40 towns and cities surveyed.

While other Midlands towns, including Portlaoise and Mullingar, retained their 'Clean to European Norms' status, the presence of four "heavily littered sites" in Athlone saw it lose its clean status and move into the 'moderately littered' category.

The Tullamore end of year report from IBAL found the Axis Business Park on the Clara Road, which is home to a number of local businesses, to be "exceptionally freshly presented and well maintained" while Market Square in the centre of Tullamore was also attractively presented and well maintained "with a virtual absence of litter throughout" on the day of the judge's inspection.

Other parts of the town to be singled out for special mention in the report include Main Street, which was found to have some "lovely features" such as colourful tiered planter boxes, attractive paving, and trees looking "very autumnal".

In relation to Lloyd Town Park, the IBAL inspectors found all aspects of the park to be "in very good order" and concluded that it clearly is "a very well-respected park environment".

Along with the Axis Business Park, Lloyd Town Park, Market Square and Main Street, the three other areas of Tullamore to achieve the highest ranking by An Taisce inspectors were the Charleville Approach Road; the Deposit Return Scheme at Lidl and the Clara Approach Road.

There was praise for a welcome feature at the Lidl Deposit Return Scheme where users are given the opportunity to empty any excess liquids from containers before using the machine. "It seems to be well used and managed," the inspectors observed, given the absence of any liquid on the ground, and the facility was "very much deserving" of the top litter grade.

Main Street was looking "wonderfully autumnal" on the day of inspection, with seating, signage and other elements of the streetscape being "freshly presented". There was also praise for the area outside a local artisanal bakery and cafe which "looked particularly well" and the overall impression with regard to litter was "a very good one".

The road surface, markings and signage on the Charleville Approach Road into Tullamore were "in good order" according to the IBAL report, with judges noting the presence of "just one crisp packet" on the surveyed route.

Similarly, the Clara Approach Road was found to have "a virtual absence of litter" and created "a positive first impression" of Tullamore, while the Market Square in the centre of the town was praised for its "lovely pedestrianised area in the middle" with benches, an array of trees and colourful planter boxes, all of which were found to be in good order.

Two areas inspected received a B+ ranking, the Bring Centre on the Daingean Road and the R433 Collins Lane Approach Road. In relation to the Bring Centre, the judges noted that, although the small facility was "very good overall" it was "let down" by the presence of broken glass on the ground in front of the green glass units. They added that this was "potentially hazardous" for future users.

The presence of sweet papers, mineral cans, fast food wrappers, coffee cups and cigarette butts along the side of the Collins Lane Approach Road was noted by the judges.

The Church Street area of Tullamore achieved a Grade B ranking, due to the presence of litter items such as cigarette butts, food-related items and vape devices. "The streetscape was very much enhanced by Joe Lee's Pub," noted the IBAL report, although the boarding in front of a derelict house on the mixed use street was found to have a "significant" graffiti presence.

Overall, the end of year IBAL survey found that the Deposit Return Scheme continues to have a positive impact on the cleanliness of Irish towns and cities, with a 10% drop in the prevalence of cans and plastic bottles compared to the previous year. These two types of litter are now 60% less common than when the scheme was first introduced in early 2024.

Coffee cups remained one of the most commonly found forms of litter and were evident in a fifth of all sites surveyed.