This Summer will see a large influx of visitors to towns and villages across the county and to our beautiful seaside and historic town of Youghal in particular. A clean town and a tidy town is imperative in welcoming our visitors and for ourselves. Cork County Council traditionally commits significant resources to street cleaning and town presentation initiatives; this high standard of maintenance and upkeep of open spaces and public realm will continue to be supported. The provision of a clean environment in towns involves collaboration with businesses and the community in general. For its part, Cork County Council, while engaging with local businesses will ensure that street cleaning regimes are maintained – we, as a community must continue to support this policy and do our bit.
There has been a significant increase in the amount of waste being generated as a result of the increased level of outdoor activity and takeaway consumption, e.g. takeaway food, coffee/drinks, refreshments etc. This has given rise to increased littering. The primary issue regarding such littering is public behaviour. A high degree of personal responsibility needs to be borne by individual consumers. The consumer, that’s you and I, needs to understand that littering is an offence. There is no situation when disposal of litter in an indiscriminate manner is acceptable. Where a bin is full – or where there is no waste bin available – it is incumbent on us to take personal responsibility and bring our litter home with us on such occasions. The council proposes to embark on public awareness campaigns to highlight this important messaging. We must support our council on this campaign..