This article is from page 40 of the 2011-09-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 40 JPG
THE Chairman of Ennis Tidy Towns says he is happy Ennis has retained its “elite” status after the town won county and regional honours at the National Tidy Towns awards yesterday.
Ennis placed fifth overall, scoring a total of 307 points, just three marks shy of winners Killarney. Ennis won a county award, the mid-west regional award and a gold medal.
The county capital also narrowly missed out on reclaiming the prize for Ireland’s tidiest large urban centre, with the honour going to the home of the newly crowned All-Ireland hurling champions, Kilkenny.
“I was talking to one of the adjudicators and he said it was only a toss of a coin, there was only one point between us. It’s Kilkenny’s year, I suppose. We had won it a few times and we were hoping to get it back. But we’re quite happy,” explains Ennis Tidy Towns Chairman, Noel Crowley.
The adjudicator’s report praised Ennis for it’s “structured approach to ongoing developments in the town.”
It continues, “There are many examples of good planning policy, good design and imaginative and colourful presentations dispersed throughout. New developments have integrated well and have strengthened the traditional identity and ethos of your historical location, while continuing an important programme of development for the youth. Well done on your success in the Tidy Towns competition, which is well deserved.”
Mr Crowley says, “We were fifth out of 820, which is no mean achievement. It’s hard to stay at the top because you only climb up incrementally.”
“To stay at the top is the hardest thing to do. The mark we got this year would have it won it last year and the year before that. So we’re happy to stay at the elite end of the competition,” he adds.
On the area of litter control in Ennis, the report states, “Your litter programme is working well, considering that the town hosted a number of events over the weekend. The employment of litter wardens is a very good initiative as is your campaign of promoting civic pride through your liaison with the Green Schools and the Spring Day Programmes. Once again the main streets were generally litter free while some back areas had small scatterings of litter. The river area looked very well.”
The report also compliments the efforts of local residents associations.
It states, “The various initiatives you have undertaken in this category are effective. Categorising areas for competition and the holding of prizegiving ceremonies is a great way of promoting environmental issues in the many housing estates in your town.
“This adjudicator was very impressed with new developments at Cloughleigh including the HSE Community Resource House and the new playground. The announcement name sign of the various estates and many individual colourful private gardens were admired here. Well done on this effort.”
Mr Crowley hopes the unveiling of four new statues in the coming months will boost Ennis’ chances of landing the top prize next year.
He also thanked all those who had contributed to Ennis’ ongoing success in the competition, saying, “Everyone in Ennis is part of this. It’s not the committee. It’s everyone.”