A LOCAL councillor has drawn attention to an illegal dumping blackspot on the Southside where he took pictures of a dead rat and a discarded hypodermic needle among the rubbish.
The shocking images captured by Cllr Trevor Gilligan (FF) show the carcass of a large rodent and a needle lying among the mounds of refuse strewn across the site in Clondalkin.
“The Upper Nangor Road is indeed Clondalkin’s litter blackÂspot,
? Cllr Gilligan said.
“Scoil Mochua, a special needs school with 75 children, faces onto this road.
“I am releasing a number of images taken on the Old Nangor Road to show the extent of the problem.
“One image is of a dead rat. The other shows a syringe inside a basket of rubbish that has a child’s toys in it.
“Residents have put cameras up at their own cost, yet still some people have no fear of illegally dumping all types of rubbish.
“But the council could have basic cameras put in place that would cost approximately e150 as opposed to covert cameras that cost over e1,000.
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Cllr Gilligan also called on South Dublin County Council to enforce the law to the maximum extent.
“Currently the top fine is e3,000,
? he said.
“However, I believe this is inadequate and I am calling for the maximum litter fine to be increased to e10,000. This is a matter of public health and safety.
“The council must have this area cleaned outright,
? Cllr Gilligan added.
“They also need to install a gate blocking off this section of the Old Nangor Road to eliminate future dumping.
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A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said their Litter Warden had patrolled the area on a regular basis as it had been identified as an acute dumping blackspot.
“Twenty four complaints were received by South Dublin County Council on the Customer Contact System in 2013 in relation to illegal dumping on the Nangor Road,
? a spokesperson revealed.
“Each complaint was fully investigated with all dumped material interrogated for evidence by the council’s Litter Warden, resulting in one Fixed Penalty Notice being issued.
“Increasingly, it is found that no personal information relating to the polluter is contained within the dumped material with personal infÂoÂrÂmation having been removed or shredded.
“This prevents the council from being able to take appropriate enforcement action under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended.
“The Litter Warden has inspected this area and arrangements are being made to have the dumped material removed by the council’s Public Realm Section by close of business on Wednesday, April 16.
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The spokesperson added that in relation to the use of CCTV the council had previously deployed a rapid deployment camera at the location.
“Unfortunately, the experience proved to be unsuccessful and did not deter the problem of illegal dumping,
? the spokesperson admitted.
“Cameras of the quality suggested by the councillor are likely to prove ineffective because of the limitations in terms of scope of the camera in the context of area to be covered and the quality of the CCTV footage required to support prosecution under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended.
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