Louth’s kerbside bin offenders ‘happy to pay fines, which can be frustrating’ say council

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

A growing number of household bins left along footpaths in Dundalk town centre is unsightly and creates accessibility issues on pavements, the January meeting of Louth County Council heard.

Cllr. Ciaran Fisher said poor bin presentation “did play a role” in the latest rankings awarded to Dundalk in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey, were the town slipped nine places.

"It was reported there was an increase of bins on display and refuse around those bins as well,” said Cllr. Fisher.

He said he appreciated the council were working through the “reverse register scheme” to identify households where there was no record of how domestic waste is being disposed of.

"But it is a problem that is getting worse, it keeps getting worse every couple of months, as there are more properties being built.”

Cllr. Fisher said this should also be looked at by the planning section as “the aspiration of where people are going to put their bins is not the reality.”

He said Market Street was “one of the worst streets on the town for this” as there are terraced houses where bins may have to be brought in through houses.

He called for “more enforcement” adding that it could be aligned with parking fines if a car is parked on a footpath.

"I’d like to see us come up with a system to review this so that if someone leaves their bin out for a month they are getting a lot of fines.”

A physical ticket placed on the bins could also promote more public awareness, said Cllr. Fisher.

Director of Service, David Hanratty, told the meeting that there are a number of repeat offenders who are regularly issued with fines.

"They are happy to pay them, which can be frustrating,” he added.

He said the issue was on the council’s radar, and they would gauge if there are more stringent measures which can be applied.