Cost not a factor for most illegal dumpers says McCormack
The amount of empty beer, cigarette and pizza boxes at most litter blackspots shows that cost is not a legitimate excuse when it comes to illegal dumping.
That's according to Cllr Tony McCormack who last week called on the council to install mobile CCTV cameras at litter blackspots. The Fianna Fail man posted photos on social media this week of illegal dumping at Puttaghaun and at the Arden Road roundabout in Tullamore. It is areas like these that the council should be targeting, he says.
“The two areas that I put up photos of last week, both of those were household rubbish. The people that did it decided that they weren't going to pay for their bins like everyone else and were going to indiscriminately throw it somewhere where they thought they would get away with it.
“I am hoping that the council can put in mobile cameras in the blackspots around town where we have a lot of illegal dumping and identify the people who are doing this. They should leave no stone unturned to prosecute them in the courts and make an example of them to try and stop other people from carrying out such activities.
“You have groups like Tidy Towns and the Rotary Club, as well as the county council trying to do their best to make the town look well and then you have other people who don't care about his and dump willy nilly wherever they feel.”
The cost of waste disposal is often given as one of the reasons why people illegal dump their household waste, but Cllr McCormack says that isn't the case for many offenders.
“If people are in a situation where they can't afford it, they should contact their local authority and see if there is anything can be done for them.
“A lot of the rubbish I see thrown in these places would include boxes of beer, cigarette packs, takeaway pizza boxes. Instead of drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and buying takeaways, they should spend their money on the tags for collecting their rubbish,” he said.
Cllr McCormack also welcomed the introduction of “bin police”, who will visit households who are not signed up with private waste collectors. These households will have to provide proof, such as receipts from local authortity dumps, that they are legally disposing of their household waste. If they can't they will face fines of €75.
“You have some households in parts of the town who would be storing up rubbish in their back gardens and then when they have so much of it getting a trailer and in some cases illegally dumping it around the town," he said.