COUNTDOWN
The countdown is on for the SuperValu National Tidy Towns Competition which starts in June.We are busy getting through the many projects in order to get Ballincollig looking the very best it can. We are asking that all businesses and residents keep the front of their places swept and as clean as possible.
The countdown is also on for the 2019 Gardens Competition which is sponsored by Ballincollig Credit Union. This begins in seventeen days. We would encourage all those who are proud of their front gardens to enter this year’s competition. Attractive front gardens with tubs and hanging baskets contribute greatly to the overall appearance of an area. The entry form can be downloaded from the website https://www.ballincolligtidytowns.ie
RESULTS
The First Round results of the Council’s Anti Litter Competition have been released. Ballincollig scored well with 971.1 points from an available 1,000. This is much better than last year but we need to push ahead to score better, we placed 6th out of 9 in our category. Cigarette butts as well as litter on Main Street during the day is where marks were lost.The Second Round got underway this week. Please make sure that places are again kept free of cigarette butts and litter. 
SUNDAY LITTER PICKS
On Sunday last, the 26th May, we had twenty five Volunteers including two Transition Year students participating in the weekly Litter Pick. Most of the usual areas were covered in the hour and we collected twelve bags of waste, three of which were segregated for recycling.
Another Volunteer cleared kerbs from the Oriel House Hotel to the Innishmore Junction. During the week previous Volunteers were active litter picking each day collecting four bags, two of waste and two of recyclable materials.
An added bonus on Sunday was the assistance of a dozen hardy workers from the walking group Suil Linn. They cleared the grass margins from Station Cross to Cranford Pines yielding thirty nine bags in total.
CE/TUS WORK GROUP
Works carried out in the allotment during the week to Sunday the 19th consisted of weeding, turning the compost and sorting waste. Overgrown hedges were cut back on Station Road. The fronts of old buildings at West End were cleared of weeds and debris and washed down.
All kerbs from the old Carrigrohane PO to Poulavone were cleared of weeds and overgrowth cut back. Planting started in Fr. Sexton Park. This will really add to the place when completed. We are using Pollinator Plants as part of the Pollinator Corridor initiative
We collected forty bags of green waste from cleanups in four estates as well as residents disposing of waste themselves. We are grateful to the residents groups as well as to the many individual residents making great efforts on their places over the past few months but especially in the last few weeks.
OTHER WORKS
On Tuesday and Thursday Work Nights, twenty Volunteers got through a lot of work. Litter was cleared; bins,seats and signs were washed and weeds were removed from the paved pathways. The high wall near Aldi on Main Street was cleaned in preparation for the planters that will be placed there shortly. Early morning, Saturday 25th, the traffic islands on the west of Ballincollig were steam cleaned. A big thank you to O’Donovan Agri services for their help.
Up to twenty VMWare volunteers did a great job in the Regional Park giving a deep clean to some of the canals as well as taking the low water as an opportunity to clear the sluice gates of accumulated rubbish and debris. They did great work.
Biodiversity signage has been installed in a number of areas. Grass is not being cut along the Pollinator Corridor in an effort to help the bees. The Ballincollig Pollinator Corridor Map will be available shortly on our Website.
If you are interested in joining us any Sunday just come along to Quish’s SuperValu West End where we meet up at 11.00 am for our weekly litter pick. However, if you have an hour or two to spare any Tuesday and/or Thursday night we meet outside AIB Main Street at 7pm.
