Drogheda climbs to 24th position out of 40 towns and cities inspected
The final Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) litter survey of 2023 has found Drogheda to be ‘Clean to European norms’ and has climbed to 24th position, that’s up three places in the ranking of 40 towns and cities nationwide since last year.
In their report on Drogheda. An Taisce said it was great to see the big improvements earlier in 2023 have been sustained this time around. “Some sites were not just good with regards to litter but very well presented and maintained e.g., River Quarter and West Street – both were very attractively laid out” they said.
“There was some heavy hitting anti-litter notices at the Recycle / Bring Facility on King Street – broken glass to the front of the units and other items to the rear. While there was some improvement at Marley’s Lane, it was the only heavily littered site this time around.”
Drogheda Train Station once again came in for special mention from the judges who scored it as a Grade A. “The large car park area was primarily clear of litter, bar some items in the disabled parking spots and at the road entrance” they said.
“The double yellow lines parallel to the black bollards were faded / wearing away. The colourful visitor information notice presented well, and the covered bicycle parking area was in good order.”
Also receiving the top grade was Shop Street (see below), which, the judges said: “Apart from some cigarette butts, particularly lodged in the cracks of the pavement and at the entrances to various premises, there were no litter issues along this short and narrow shopping street. Litter bins were in good condition.
West Street also received a Grade A marking with the streetscape being described as “excellent”. Features such as paving, bicycle parking, street lamps, attractive shop fronts, seating, tree planting, bollards etc all came in for positive mention.
“Overall, West Street was very much deserving of the top litter grade – as well as being beautifully laid out, it was spotless” the judges said.
The worst performing area according to the report was Marley’s Lane which, despite some improvement, was awarded a C+.
“There were still pockets of accumulated litter throughout the area from the primary school to LMFM – most notably domestic dumping next to a bin (and anti-litter notice) at Aura. Lower levels were noted at St Oliver’s and close to the junction with Rathmullen Road”.
Sadly, it was a different story in Dundalk. The former winner of the IBAL has once again been classified as ‘littered’ and has slumped to 39th out of 40 towns inspected.
CLICK HERE TO READ OR DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT FOR DROGHEDA.
Deputy Mayor of Drogheda Kevin Callan, a long-time campaigner with Drogheda Tidy Towns, described the results of the IBAL Report for the end of 2023 as “good news for Drogheda which has for the second time in a year retained its ranking as “Clean to European Norms”.
“This result is warmly welcomed and I want to acknowledge the work of a great number of people who continue to fight back against littering and illegal dumping. We have been working hard for over two years with Louth County Council, volunteers, Drogheda Tidy Towns, Drogheda & District Chamber, Love BIDS and I also would like to acknowledge the TUS members now also involved.
“We have further had the #lookinggooddrogheda initiative where businesses have come on board to sign our charter to assist in efforts to keep Drogheda looking well. This project operated between key stakeholders has had a really positive effect.
“We need to keep up all of the effort and 2024 will be another year of hard work but we will keep going.”
