'It's just constant' Laois man personally pays to clear tons of dumped rubbish off roadside
Resident of former Dublin road wants action by Laois County Council and Coillte
A Laois man is personally clearing a rubbish strewn road and even paying the cost to dump it and put up No Dumping signs.
Speaking out of frustration this week after gathering another two tonnes of rubbish to bring to landfill (see photo), Colm Phelan from Ballybrittas is urging Laois County Council and Coillte to take more action.
The R445 old Dublin Road between the Gandon Inn and Ballybrittas village, is now quiet since the M7 Motorway was built alongside it. It has become a wide open target for dumpers, particularly in laybys and the entrance to Coillte's woodlands.
Every couple of weeks, residents Colm Phelan and Daire O'Connell, take Colm's own telehandler out to the roadside from the village to the former Montague hotel, gathering up tonnes of litter. Then they bring it to Kyletalesha where Colm pays the cost of dumping it.
"It's just constant, it's non-stop. It's everything from dirty nappies and condom wrappers, to SuperMacs and McDonalds wrappers, energy drink bottles, wine bottles. I've found sofas, I've pulled out a tonne bag of hydraulic machinery pipes full of old oil. It's domestic, industrial, agricultural.
"People don't care, they pull up, throw their rubbish out and drive off. It's shocking. Huge tonne bags full of rubbish are being pulled off trucks and dumped. People go out specifically to dump," he said.
Mr Phelan said the problem has worsened since a Ballybrittas based councillor, PJ Kelly, lost his seat in the last local elections.
"I could call in and the council would help. I've rung the council before, but months go by and its just not collected. I've spoke to Coillte before, but they don't want to know. It's on their land, on the hedges and in and around the barriers to the woodlands.
"Every couple of weeks I'm out with the telehandler cleaning up. We gather a couple of tonnes typically every time. It takes a couple of hours. The Tidy Towns group in Ballybrittas try and help but they have enough to manage in the village.
"I pay to dump it, I don't know how much I spend, it just goes on my fob.
"I want to highlight that this is going on for years, with no real help. An obvious solution would be to close off those laybys, whether that's up to Laois County Council or Coillte. If somebody doesn't have an option to pull in and eat their meals, they're not going to," he said.
He accused Laois County Council of giving "little to no help".
"I sent photos of names and addresses we found, but no action was taken. The litter warden pops out now and then and gives us blue bags.
"I put signage up myself on the road. I had asked the council to provide signs but they didn't. I ordered them and put 10 signs up, it cost me €400 or €500. It was pointless, a waste of time," he said.
Asked if the number of plastic bottles has lessened since the return scheme began, Mr Phelan said there's "not a bit of difference".
"People don't care. It's disillusioning," the Ballybrittas man said.
Laois County Council environment official Dom Reddin says they do tackle dumping in the area.
"Laois County Council assisted Mr Phelan in February this year with removing waste following a collection that he did in the area. A prosecution was followed up from this.
"We have provided “No Dumping Signs” to residents in the area and more can be provided. The Council have also removed bags of litter that were collected in the area by the local tidy towns group.
"The Council’s Environment Section will continue to monitor the area and will assist against the plight of litter as much as possible going forward," Mr Reddin said.
Coillte has been asked for comment on this story.