Calls grow for community campaign to clean up Navan in Meath
At the June meeting of the Navan Municipal District, councillors voiced growing concern over widespread littering in the town and called for a public campaign or local initiative to encourage residents to take responsibility for keeping their community clean.
Councillor Yemi Adenuga proposed launching a campaign to remind people “of the importance of using the bin.”
“In recent times, I’ve noticed that more and more people just have the audacity to throw things on the ground. We need to remind people of the importance of using the bin as they tend to forget,” she said.
Her call was backed by Councillor Emer Tóibín, who said: “I would like to see some type of campaign or initiative that motivates businesses and houses in town to be a little bit more mindful about the streets outside where they live or have their business.”
Cllr Tóibín added: “There has to be a better understanding that keeping the town clean is something we are all responsible for.”
Councillor Eddie Fennessy also weighed in, stating that residents who fail to maintain their properties contribute to a negative image of the town.
“People not maintaining their properties reflects badly on the entire community,” he said.
A recent report from Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) ranked Navan as "Moderately Littered" by international standards. The town placed 28th out of 40 towns across Ireland in terms of cleanliness.
Councillor John Duffy said there needs to be more encouragement for volunteers to get involved in tidy towns groups. His comments were supported by Councillor Alan Lawes, who suggested relaunching tidy towns efforts in Navan.
“We need to invite all the community groups to a public meeting and encourage people to get involved and relaunch tidy town groups,” he said.
Cllr Adenuga agreed, adding: “At some stage when the tidy towns groups are relaunched, it will give some sort of ownership to everyone in Navan to have a responsibility to keep it tidy.”