Council defends littering fine

CLARE County Council has stood by its decision to issue a €150 fine for dumping under the Litter Pollution Act 1997 to a Limerick pensioner on holiday in the resort town.

A letter to Ralph McMahon said the offence had been detected at the bring banks in Kilkee on June 5.
“A fine was issued on July 24 upon the viewing of CCTV footage, which Clare County Council received from the contractor, who had installed cameras at the bring bank facility at West End Car Park, Kilkee, on Clare County Council’s behalf.
“It can be clearly seen from the footage that the individual involved deposits numerous items, including cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and glass bottles on the ground. He also deposits a number of other items properly into the banks,” a Clare County Council statement to The Clare Champion explained.
However, in a letter to the council, Mr McMahon said the bottle banks were full when he tried to deposit some items there.
“All the bins were overflowing and the public were left with no option but to leave their deposits neatly on the ground beside the bins. Reluctantly, I had no option but to do likewise,” he explained.
“It is painfully obvious that this bottle bank bin capacity is totally inadequate,” Mr McMahon claimed, adding that his family have been visiting Kilkee for 70 years.
“My family were appalled when informed of my experience and one can only hope that other visitors to Kilkee will not have a similar experience,” he said.
Clare County Council stated that the site is maintained daily during the summer, while additional recycling banks have been located at the site for the summer period.
“CCTV footage from June 5, the date which the littering offence was committed, show the green bottle bank and the plastic banks were close to their capacity, which is not unusual during the summer months. But it can also be clearly seen that other members of the public attended the site at the same time the offence was committed and either managed to place their plastic items in the banks or leave the site with their waste.
“There is signage at the site outlining that it is an offence to deposit items either on the ground or on the banks. We have numerous alternative sites in the West Clare area and also there is a civic amenity site within two miles of the beach in Lisdeen,” the council statement noted.