Call to delay plans to cut amenity site opening hours

Councillors have urged their bosses to defer rationalisation plans at civic amenity sites, claiming it is another kick in the teeth for rural Ireland and will lead to increased illegal dumping.

Members of Cork County Council’s western division are angry that opening hours are to be reduced at the civic amenity sites in West Cork.

They are two of 11 such sites that the council operates within the county.

Council bosses have decided to reduce opening hours at 11 sites in the county from 5.5 days a week to 2.5 days and will redeploy personnel stationed there to a new team which will be sent out in lorries to clean up illegally dumped litter.

Talks are ongoing with unions about the redeployment, which council officials want to start on February 9.

However, the move has been severely criticised by members of all parties and by Independents.

Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll said the reduced opening hours would lead to more littering, which would fly in the face of the council’s attempts to cash in on tourism through the Wild Atlantic Way.

“We’ll have bags dumped everywhere,” he said. “Either the council is in the business of providing a service or it’s not. They are cutting this because they are saying the people in West Cork shouldn’t have the same service as those in the city because there’s a bigger population in the city.”

Independent councillor Michael Collins said councillors first heard of the move from the media, although officials maintained that some councillors were told of it at a Special Purposes Committee (SPC) meeting.

“We will see more burning and rubbish being dumped,” said Mr Collins. “Many people don’t have refuse service because of narrowness of roads and we using these centres effectively. It’s another kick in the teeth for the people of rural Ireland.”

Fine Gael councillor Mary Hegarty described the move as “a step backwards for us” and being “penny wise and pound foolish,” while her party colleague, Noel O’Donovan, said it was “giving out the wrong message”.

Fianna Fáil councillor Christopher O’Sullivan said such centres were reporting increases in recycling every year and should not have their opening hours cut.

The Mayor of County Cork, Alan Coleman, said the situation “hadn’t been handled very well” and said councillors would seek a deferral of the move until they had consulted further with their officials.