Cork council chief won't ask litter wardens to issue fines amid fears for safety

One councillor described the current amount of illegal littering as “soul-destroying"

Overflowing bins with bags of rubbish left behind at the beach in Myrtleville, Co. Cork. File picture: David Creedon

Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey has said he is not willing to put his personnel at risk by asking them to issue litter fines to groups of youths who are regularly dumping waste at public parks and beaches.

Mr Lucey made the comments after a number of county councillors expressed concern about illegal dumping at beauty spots and amenity areas.

Fianna Fáil councillors Seamus McGrath and Audrey Buckley asked council officials to prepare a specific litter enforcement response, which would include a multi-agency approach and support from gardaí.

Mr McGrath said a minority of people were littering, causing a significant problem in many areas.

He said this was mainly happening at weekends when enforcement by litter wardens was “almost non-existent".

“That's not good enough, it has to change. We need to work more closely with community gardaí and have them with our people so they're not put in danger. We're asking the chief executive to meet with senior gardaí and see how we can collaborate,” Mr McGrath said.

Ms Buckley, who lives in Crosshaven and volunteers with her local Tidy Towns group, said they had tried to speak to people about taking their litter home, but the campaign simply wasn't working with some.

“We want to see fines being handed out,” she said.

We live in communities which are getting destroyed on sunny days and it's just not fair.

Independent councillor Marcia D'Alton, a Tidy Towns volunteer in Passage West, described the current amount of illegal littering as “soul-destroying". 

Mayor of County Cork, Independent councillor Mary Linehan-Foley, who volunteers for litter-picking in Youghal, said takeaway boxes were regularly being strewn around the town.

She said she was “at a loss” at what to do because council anti-littering campaigns seem to be falling on deaf ears with certain groups.

Mr Lucey said the council's resources were already stretched as it is.

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He pointed out that gardaí had recently experienced challenges dealing with groups of youths in cities and expressed concern that unless litter wardens were heavily supported by gardaí, their safety could be at risk.

“Challenging people in open spaces would put staff at risk. Is it actually feasible to hand out fines to groups of teenagers? And anyway how effective would it be? I believe there are risks around that,” Mr Lucey said.

Mr McGrath said he didn't want to put litter wardens in danger, but maintained the only way to tackle the issue was to start handing out fines, even if it was only initially done on weekdays. “We can't let what's happening continue."