MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

CONTINUING TO MOVE FORWARD

The Second Phase began with gusto last Monday with the promise of so much more to come. Thankfully the new numbers of daily cases have stayed relatively small although we continue to lose so many.

Walking around it is obvious people have become quite accustomed to keeping their distance and doing things at a slower pace. Perhaps this pandemic has thought us above all to be more tolerant of each other, more aware of people around us and more conscious of what we are doing.

Each week we move forward Ballincollig Tidy Towns’ work in the community is slowly getting back on track. While there is no National Tidy Towns Competition this year, the immense pride we have for the town of Ballincollig pushes us forward and keeps us focused on maintaining the high levels we have reached over the past number of years. It is probably more important for us this year to work harder than we ever have as it gives everyone a lift to see the place looking the best it can. In some ways it is our way of honouring those who lost their lives from the Coronavirus and pay tribute to all those who worked tirelessly on the front line saving and serving so that life could go on, albeit a different life.

VOLUNTEERS

We are extremely lucky to have an incredible group of Volunteers who work tirelessly to keep Ballincollig looking so good. They all give freely of their time and everything they do is appreciated. Many lasting friendships have been made among this group of wonderful people over the years.  

This week we welcomed two new Volunteers to the group. We are thrilled to have them on board and hope that more will join us in the coming months.

WATERING

This week the ‘Two Pats’ were watering at night on two occasions. The first night they used 1,200 litres in the two and three-quarter hours it took them. The weather was cooler and there were some showers about so those two factors helped. All the planters on Main Street, the new towers and planters on Eastgate were watered. They then went on to water The Transition Bed in Fr. Sexton Park, the flower beds on Station Road and at the Church of St. Mary and St. John.

The second night they spent three hours watering and used 1,500 litres of water. All pole planters, window boxes, wooden planters, flowers at Aldi, Fr. Sexton Park, the Towers, St. Mary and St. John flower beds and along Station Road were watered..

All the water used was harvested.

TIDYING UP

A private contractor was brought in this week to cut back the growth around the public lighting. However, it was very disappointing to see that they failed to clear up completely when the work was done. There were small branches and lots of leaves left on the ground. One of our Volunteers cleaned up and collected sixteen plastic bags of leaves and branches.

ONGOING WORKS

Our CE Worker continued the work on Barry’s Road which resulted in 12 tonne bags being removed. The result was excellent.

All the contents have been taken to be recycled.

Some large broken branches were removed from Coolroe Meadows and more are yet to be removed.

LITTER PICKS

Every day an increasing number of our Volunteers can be seen back on the streets carrying out Litter Picks. The safety guidelines set out in relation to the Coronavirus are followed by each Volunteer.

This week they collected

•   2 bags of cans;

•   1 bag of plastic bottles;

•  9 bags of litter;

•  3 bags of glass bottles

Despite the ongoing dedicated work of our Volunteers, it is extremely disappointing and disrespectful that people young and not so young continue to throw litter on the ground. Since the lockdown began the evidence of litter on our streets has increased week on week.

Hopefully with life getting back to some sort of normal people will think again before discarding litter on the streets of our lovely town.

Please think twice before dropping any litter on the ground.