Landowners urged to dispose of rubbish dumped on their land

THE head of an organisation representing the Clare tourism industry has highlighted the problem of illegal dumping in the county.

Barbara Faulkner, chairperson of Clare Tourism Forum, is calling on land owners to dispose of rubbish dumped on their land to create a good impression for visitors.
Ms Faulkner claimed the recession has seen an increase in ‘flytipping’ here and that this is negatively impacting the county’s tourism product.
“One thing that people can do is try to keep the place attractive, keeping our towns and countryside clean and tidy. So when people are driving around, they think ‘well isn’t this lovely, there is no litter, no rubbish at the side of the road’. It is about taking a sense of pride in where you are and where you live. It might seem like a small thing but it is huge,” Ms Faulkner told The Clare Champion.
“People will say ‘well it is not my problem’ but it is lying there and no one else is going to come along and pick it up. The next thing the birds have attacked it and it is scattered and it is in the trees and hedgerows and it is unsightly and it is unsightly when visitors come into the county. It is about a sense of pride and that is one of the things we have to get back, a sense of pride,” she continued.
According to Ms Faulkner, the problem of illegal dumping is worsening.
“More and more when you are driving around, you would see a bag of rubbish that you know has just been thrown out of a vehicle. That is starting to creep in a lot and that is terrible. I think there are a lot of factors contributing to this. In this recession that we have, there are taxes and charges and all types of things and people are feeling that refuse charges are high so we will just throw it here because it is out of my hands,” she explained.
“I think that people’s sense of pride in our place eroded in the so-called Celtic Tiger and then with the recession coming in and people feeling the pinch, as we all do, people might think we should get rid of rubbish here, anywhere, out of the way,” Ms Faulkner added.
Greater emphasis needs to be put on keeping the environment clean, according to Ms Faulkner, in order to create the best possible impression on people visiting the area.
“When people drive out of the airport in Shannon and the place looks attractive, it creates a good first impression. A lot of towns go to great trouble, like Ennis, for example, they do a fabulous job with all their floral arrangements. It is a very attractive pretty town so when people are driving around the county that is the impression they should be getting,” Ms Faulkner concluded.