Tipperary council takes first successful case against tenant for not having household waste collection
Tipperary County Council has taken a council tenant to court for the first time over a failure to have a household waste collection service, it emerged this month.
At the January meeting of the Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District, a representative from the council’s environment section said that the local authority takes waste disposal seriously, and are willing to go as far as court if someone doesn’t comply with the rules in place for tenants.
This came following a query from Fianna Fáil councillor Kieran Bourke who asked for an update on how the council follows up on people who are found not to have a household waste disposal service.
The council regularly undertakes household waste surveys for its tenants who are living in social housing, and the results of these surveys determine what the next steps are.
"We ask people to show proof of their household waste service, if they do that, all’s well and good, and if they don’t, there’s an initial follow up by the environmental enforcement officer,” a representative from the environment section explained.
Social housing tenants are obliged, under their tenancy agreements with the council to have a waste removal service in place, whether that’s a wheelie bin service, or proof that they have taken rubbish to one of the five civic amenity sites across the county.
"If we’re not satisfied with the information provided by tenants, it can go down the route of issuing a fixed penalty notice, and also requiring them to obtain a household waste service,” councillors were told.
News in 90 seconds - Wednesday 28th January.
"Ultimately, if someone isn’t satisfying us, we can take them all the way to court.
"Last year was the first time the council obtained a successful prosecution under the household waste collection bylaws that we have in the courts, so we will go that distance if somebody doesn’t show us that they have a household waste service,” the environment section representative said.
In response, Cllr Bourke said he was “taken aback” by this information, saying that he was aware of a number of properties who don’t have a waste service.
"I’m taken aback a little bit to hear that the council had the first successful prosecution, it’ll just tell you how complicated the system is,” Cllr Bourke said.
"I am more than aware of dozens of households in my hometown that don’t have bin collection, and the good neighbours that have to live in close proximity to them, they see the build-up of black refuse bags. I’m just taken aback a little bit,” he added.
The representative from the environment section said that it was difficult when a council tenant was involved, because the first port of call to address issues was by using the tenancy agreement, but added that now they had a successful prosecution, they know what’s needed to prosecute a case in court.
"With prosecutions, like anything, it’s all about evidential proof, and the necessary documentation to get a successful prosecution, now we have tested the legislation and our own bylaws, we are prepared to go all the way to court now,” he said.