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[Press Release: January 26th, 2004] Greens call for stronger enforcement of Litter Action PlanFollowing yesterday's meeting of the Water and Environmental Services Committee of Wicklow County Council, Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca has called for stronger enforcement of the Litter Action Plan for Wicklow. The Plan includes anti-litter initiatives such as providing skips to local community groups organising clean ups, the Wicklow Confidential LoCall Litterline, a pilot recycling scheme by Greenstar waste collection company and the proposed opening of large recycling centres in Bray and Greystones.Councillor de Burca raised concerns about the way in which the Litterline was operating. She informed council officials of complaints she had received from members of the public about the lack of response to litter information given to the Litterline. "The Litterline has been operating now for several years" says councillor de Burca. "I believe it should be evaluated to see just how effective it has been in helping to tackle the litter problem in the county". The Green councillor also expressed her concern at the negative rating given to the town of Bray recently as part of a national survey. "We are being told that Bray is the dirtiest town in Ireland" she says. "How effective can we say a Litter Plan has been if this is the impression that outsiders have of the major town in the county"? Councillor de Burca has called for a properly resourced anti-Litter Campaign for Bray that would learn from the experience of other towns like Carlow which found itself in a similar position several years ago. "We need a concerted action plan, involving businesses, voluntary groups and Bray Town Council in order to tackle this growing problem" she says. "If we suceed, everybody benefits, particularly those who live in the town and those who are running businesses here". Green Party Local Area spokesperson, Caroline Burrell, expressed her satisfaction with the introduction of a pilot recyling scheme by Greenstar. However, she is concerned that the recyling service will not be rolled out quickly enough to the rest of Bray. "Greenstar has announced that it will extend the pilot scheme to a further 800 homes in Bray" she says. "Surely all of the teething problems have been ironed out now after the pilot phase.? How long will the rest of the households in Bray have to wait before they can avail of the same doorstep recycling service?"
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