NATIONAL TIDY TOWNS SILVER MEDAL WINNER 2010 & 2011
A sincere thank you to everyone who supported us in any way during 2011. We wish everyone every good wish for the coming year.
BTT Volunteers Colette Desmond, Maureen Holden, Sheila Somers in the festive spirit for the last Sunday Morning Litter Pick for 2011
BTT Ladies Colette Desmond, Maureen Holden, Sheila Somers in Festive Spirit at the Last Litter Pick for 2011
Ballincollig Beavers came out to give BTT a hand with their Weekly Litter Pick last week and what a difference they made. This was their Good Deed for the Day – Well Done Beavers
Ballincollig Beavers Litter Picking with BTT
Last Sunday one of our volunteers came across the items below in the photo Dumped in the Car Park at St Oliver’s Cemetery. It is a total disgrace
Illegal Dumping at St Oliver's Cemetary
Sunday 11th of December we watched the weather conditions carefully as a large number of regular volunteers were kind of hoping that the weekly pick would not go ahead as planned. Unfortunately for those that were not long or, at least not long enough, in their beds the pick went ahead. The previous night’s celebrations of the festive season left many with tired limbs and hoarse throats but we still had 20 volunteers reporting for work. In addition there were 8 of our transitional year gang and also welcomed were 3 of the boys from the local Beaver Scout group with their leader Caroline. These 3 boys were duly kitted out and set to work in the car park behind Down’s Supervalu. It did not take them long to get into action despite the picking sticks being way too long for them. “The picking sticks”? could be a band name for the future, watch out X factor. Anyway the young lads put in their shift and reluctantly handed back the pickers (having been converted to rifles of some sort) and the bags they filled.
Meanwhile the transitional year students were ferried to the Curraheen Roundabouts and to the wall at the former ESB site at the Leo Murphy/Link Road. There they shovelled and brushed up the weeds and leaves at the base of the walls and kerbs and in the allotted hour filled 18 bags of green waste. Since they joined us they have proven to be a great asset and have tried to do everything asked of them. Their contribution is work we would just not have got to at this time of the year previously and it has made a huge difference to the appearance of Ballincollig as well as giving us a real head start for 2012.
On litter picking we did not cover maybe as much ground as usual but with a total of 28 bags including 4 for recycling it was a great effort nonetheless. The areas picked were Main Street from the West End through to Poulavone, Fort Road, Station Road, Carriganarra Road, Barry’s Road, from the GAA to Eastgate, Inniscarra View to Kilumney Link Road roundabout, the Eastern section of the Regional Park and on the road from the Curraheen Roundabouts to Kilumney Road Link Roundabout.
So the years end is fast approaching now and this coming Sunday the 18th will be our last pick in 2011. All the volunteers and the committee members will be disappointed no doubt but people need a break and having been on the go since early January it is well deserved. Relax, enjoy the time and come back refreshed and rearing to go in January. We meet as usual at Quish’s Supervalu car park at 11:00am next Sunday. New volunteers are always welcome and everyone can make a difference. Contact us by calling or texting to Mr Pat Clarke of Ballincollig Plant and Tool Hire in Innishmore, 087-6348807. We can also be contacted at Ballincolligtidy@gmail.com .
This morning we gathered at 11:00 for our usual Sunday morning litter pick. Present were 20 volunteers and 10 transitional students. It was a fine morning and we took advantage by clearing a lot of leaves from the car park behind Down’s Supervalu. In all 9 bags of leaves were filled and we also had a further 2 bags of leaves from Pine Walk and 2 more from the Curraheen roundabouts. We also got the grass cut on both of those roundabouts.
Other than those projects it was litter picking as normal and once again we covered a large area. The areas picked were Main Street from Apple Green through to Poulavone, Fort Road, Station Road, Carriganarra Road, Barry’s Road, from the GAA to Eastgate, Inniscarra View to Kilumney Link Road roundabout, the Eastern section of the Regional Park and on the Curraheen Road from Hobb’s Yard to Maglin Road. A total of 42 bags were picked up at the end of the effort and 5 of those were segregated for recycling.
On the Thursday prior a group of six from Ballincollig Tidy Towns were invited to Killarney to attend the Regional Prizegiving ceremony of the 2011 National Tidy Towns competition. We went there knowing that we had won prizes as announced in September in Dublin but we were no less proud these months later. We collected the County commendation award for our area and also our 2nd Silver Medal. That medal is our 5th consecutive medal having previously won 3 Bronze and a Silver also last year. This shows us that the efforts we make and the efforts of residents, estate groups and the business community are paying off on a consistent basis. We look forward to next year and we hope everybody will once again be supportive and keep our town on the upward trend of the last decade or so.
The Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) is the last competition of 2011 and we do not know if that has already been judged. We will not be told the date until the results are published. Over the past few years Ballincollig has done very well in this competition getting favourable comments along the way. Hopefully all the work put in will ensure a good mark once again.
The Christmas Lights were switched on Friday evening and what a difference they make. They really bring a fantastic atmosphere to the town. Well done to the Ballincollig Business Association
Last Sunday we were lucky to get a break in the rain for our weekly litter picking hour. We had 29 persons turning out for the hour In this total we had 6 of our 2011/2012 student group. Given the opportunity of a rain free hour we decided to do some kerb cleaning as well as the normal litter pick. The kerbs and footpaths cleared were from Castle Park entrance to Eastgate and from Rosewood Estate to Poulavone. This work resulted in 20 bags of green waste collected.
The areas covered in the litter pick were Main Street from Wyndham Downs to Poulavone, Fort Road, Station Road, Carriganarra Road, Barry’s Road, Kilumney Link Roundabout to Curraheen Roundabouts and from the GAA to Eastgate. In all 36 bags were collected from these areas with 7 bags of recyclable materials segregated.
Some of the estates are still making the effort with 24 bags collected from Classis Lake, Aylsbury, Rosewood, Inniscarra View and Sunningdale. It is great to see Ballincollig looking so well and there was a great buzz around the place at the weekend. The lead up to Christmas is always exciting and this year some of us will be helping out at the Scout Bazaar on Sunday 4th December.
We will be receiving our 2011National Tidy Towns Silver Medal at a ceremony in Killarney on 1st December.
Last Sunday we had 37 persons turning out for the weekly litter pick. In this total we had 10 transition students working towards their Gaisce award. These students have proven to be a great help to our group and whatever they have been asked to do they have tried without any fuss and proved more than capable. This week they all got to participate in picking litter around the town centre and for some this was a first since they joined up. Up to now they were involved in a variety of tasks from sweeping leaves to clearing weeds from kerbs and flower beds and collecting bags. Ballincollig Tidy Towns like most other similar groups throughout the country are not just about litter even though that is a big part of what we do.
A number of the regular volunteers assisted them and the areas covered were Main Street from Wyndham Downs to Colaiste Choilm, Fort Road, Station Road, Carriganarra Road, Barry’s Road, Kilumney Link Roundabout to Curraheen Roundabouts, the eastern end of the Regional Park and from the GAA to Eastgate. In all 20 bags were collected from these areas with 4 bags of recyclable materials segregated.
For the rest of the regular volunteers it was an earlier start with a special drive on a litter blackspot. Meeting at 10:00 am instead of the usual 11:00, 2 hours were put in to an area that is probably outside of our traditional stomping ground. In any case it is considered well worth the effort and a collection of 60 bags of rubbish plus an odd assortment of dumped items proves so. Thankfully the day was dry and the cold was not noticed after a while at work. The tea and coffee laid on by the Oriel House was much appreciated afterwards.
The committee would like to thank all those that gave so willingly of their time to this project, we could not achieve the results we see week after week without them.
On Monday 14th we had 15 volunteers from Headway Ireland, Link Road, making their contribution by litter picking a large area at the western end of the Regional Park. All these extra initiatives within the community certainly help us out and encourage us to continue ourselves.
It was very noticeable on our travels throughout Ballincollig during the past week that many of the estates are keeping up their effort with very little leaves on paths and kerbs compared with other years. The County Council have been very proactive in this area as well and hopefully this work will result in less blocked drains and less kerbside weeds for the coming year. One job we need to get to is the tie wraps left on poles as they are unsightly and pretty well useless as the posters are gone. Weather permitting we will continue to turn out on Sundays until mid-December. It is important to maintain the high standard achieved throughout the year and with the Irish Business Against Litter second round judging due any time we may well get some national recognition for all the right reasons.