'There has to be consequences': Cork County Council to debate new measures to combat illegal dumping

A motion seeking possible measures to combat illegal dumping in Cork County is to be sent to the Environment Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) for further debate and discussion.

A motion was initially brought forward at last Monday’s full council meeting by Independent councillor Karen Coakley which called on Cork County Council to initiate a survey of households in parts of Cork where there is a low uptake in household waste collection services.

It was eventually decided that the Environment SPC would take a more detailed look at ways to reduce illegal dumping throughout the county after a motion from Independent councillor Marcia D’Alton.

Independent councillor Karen Coakley said she was fed up seeing illegal dumping in Cork. 

“I am fed up with seeing dumping around our beautiful county and country. 

"We have people deliberately dumping their rubbish and there must be consequences for their actions."

"It is a minority of people who are ruining our beautiful countryside. 

"Householders not availing of refuse collection services must be questioned as to where they dispose of their rubbish. We are undermining the work of local community and Tidy Towns groups,” she said.

Independent councillor Frank Roche said the situation is not ‘acceptable’. 

“It is desperate when you pass country roads and see the black bags, electrical goods and mattresses dumped. It is not acceptable.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Audrey Buckley wondered could bin charges be included in the property tax like other European countries, while Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden suggested increasing the charges and fines for people convicted of littering.

Cllr D’Alton suggested that a more in-depth way of figuring out the best way to counteract illegal dumping could be found at an Environment SPC. 

“Could I suggest this would be referred to the Environment SPC as it would help us to understand the mechanisms by which we as a council can intervene?” 

This motion was seconded by Cllr Coakley who said she would be ‘very’ happy with the motion to go to the Environment SPC.

“There are 92,108 households utilising the kerbside household collection in Cork County,” said the Chief Executive of Cork County Council Tim Lucey. 

“We have a very significant network of civic amenity sites. We have a good environmental team where we actively engage with property owners where we are satisfied there is a challenge and actively engage with multi-accommodation units where we are satisfied there isn’t an appropriate collection system in place. Generally, we find this resolves matters.

“A survey won’t necessarily give us the information that we require."

"An understanding of the annual returns in 2022 if we can get further detail on those plus what comes out of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in terms of occupied dwellings might give us more detailed data and see where we take that from at a SPC level. It needs to be targeted,” he added.

The head of environmental services in Cork County Council, Louis Duffy admitted that identifying illegal dumpers is a challenge. 

“While the number of households not availing of a kerbside household collection service or using civic amenity sites for their waste disposal is very small, with a population of over 350,000; covering an area over 7,000 square kilometres, identifying this small percentage of households within Cork County provides a challenge. 

"The approach of Cork County Council’s Waste Enforcement Team is to utilise available information to ensure the most effective application of resources. Local knowledge is found to be most effective.”