Extra CCTV cameras and inspections are to take place as Laois County council ups the its battle on dumping in the county.
Senior executive officer Michael Rainey outlined the new strategy to the monthly meeting of Laois County Council today.
Mobile CCTV cameras will be upped considerably from the current figure of two upt to 6, and possibly eight, Mr Rainey said.
The council will also adopt a new approach which will see them bring cases under waste management legislation, rather than the litter management act.
“We hope to take 10 cases for 2017,” he said.
Litter wardens are to be far more visible in the county, with new branding for cars etc.
“Education and awareness is the fundamental solution,” Mr Rainey said.
To this end, there are 79 schools involved in the Green Schools programme in the county.
Last year there were 639 litter complaints, with 161 litter fines issues.
Mr Rainey said despite the amount of litter the county has performed well in the IBAL litter league and nationally in the Tidy Towns awards.
“We need to have strong enforcement,” he said of their litter policy.
A total of 84% of houses have a litter service provider, Mr Rainey said.
“Our 2017 focused plan is to have an increased visibility of litter wardens.
They will have more visible surveillance and their CCTV surveillance will be trebling. “These cameras are very discreet and very accurate,” he said.
They will also be undertaking a media campaign to highlight the steps, he said.
“Nelson Mandella would never have achieved anything,” Cllr Willie Aird said, if he adopted the approach of Cllr James Kelly, who earlier said the war was lost on litter.
The fine of €150 was far too little, Cllr John Moran said. This should be increased to €500, he said.
There are only three litter wardens in the county, Cllr Paddy Bracken said. He noted the approach of Minister Simon Coveney who mentioned the use of drones to detect dumping, which he said could be used locally.
Revamped larger bring banks are also to be rolled out across the county, the meeting heard.
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