This article is from page 11 of the 2008-09-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
STRICT new laws controlling the disposal and storage of litter in En- nis will come into force on Septem- ber 15.
Town Clerk Eddie Power confirmed the enforcement date at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, as accusations were leveled that the council is turning a blind eye to il- legal dumping in many of it’s own housing estates.
Some businesses are struggling to adapt to the new byelaws with many
premises lacking the appropriate storage space required under the byelaws.
Businesses that fail to comply are open to fines.
Independent councillor Frankie Neylon said the business community was being unfairly targeted when other serious instances of illegal dumping go unpunished.
He said, “I have had people contact me about a certain house being used by a scrap dealer. There is a council owned house across from the house and it is being used as a dump. If the
byelaws can be used to deal with the man in Chapel Lane, they should be able to deal with individuals like that. I want the law to apply to eve- ryone.”
He proposed that CCTV be in- stalled on the council’s property as MOCKS KOE
Independent councillor Tommy Brennan called for a survey to be carried out on the number of busi- nesses operating from council owned houses in Ennis.
He said, “I know it is happening in other places around town, but there
is a truck parked on footpaths in Clancy Park. A child will be killed out on the road one of these days. You have acid leaking out of batter- ies. It ruins the area for other people living there. If you or I, or any mem- ber of the settled community did that, the law would be brought down on top of us.”
Fine Gael councillor Johnny Flynn said “the council shouldn’t be ham- mering legitimate businesses that are upfront and honest in their dealing ald ema
Town Engineer Tom Tiernan said a
lack of “solid evidence” against al- leged perpetrators had made rigour- ous enforcement almost impossible.
He said, “There are a number of cases out there where there are sus- picions that people are dealing in scrap. If you are to follow these up and pursue them to the fullest extent, that means going to court. If it goes to court you need people to stand up and give solid evidence. And you can understand that people might have certain fears about doing that.”
He added, “If you don’t have evi- dence that won’t stand up, then there