TUESDAY WORK NIGHT
Eight Volunteers were out for the Tuesday Work Night and they finished off the job near Gaelscoil Ui Riordain as it was rained off last Thursday.
The Edging Machine was working it’s magic and it really made such a difference.
All the sods that were removed will be recycled at the Allotment.
As there is a selection of new Graffiti around Ballincollig, one Volunteer was kept busy trying his best to remove it from several signs etc.
A further two Volunteers were kept busy Litter Picking.
SOME OF THE WEEK’S WORK
On Wednesday seventeen one-ton bags along with thirty-seven small bags of Green Waste were collected for recycling with the cooperation of Cork City Council.
John started to remove the dreaded Bindweed from the Beech Hedge in Coolroe. By Thursday he had removed thirty-five bags of it.
Adrian did a ‘tidy up’ on the Flowerbed at the Cleburne Mews.
He also carried out a Litter Pick on Old Fort Road and Community Drive.
Twenty Hydrangea plants were removed from Carrigrohane on Thursday and taken to the Allotment for some tender loving care in the coming weeks from Adrian. (see below)
SOS HYDRANGEAS
As some of the Hydrangeas on the Carrigrohane to Poulavone road are not as strong as others due to the soil, BTT has made plans to remove the weaker plants and bring them to the Allotment where they will get some TLC to bring them on.
In order to improve the poor soil areas, we plan to bring in some machinery to allow us put good soil and compost in the Flowerbeds. When this is done, the Hydrangeas will be replanted and hopefully they will thrive like the others.
WATERING
Fourteen hundred litres of water were used by the two Pats when they did Friday night’s watering. It took them two and three-quarter hours.
All the Planters on Main Street, including the Towers and Parklet were watered. Because of the recent rain they had water left and were also able to do the Planters at Eastgate.
Because of the huge volumes of traffic on Main Street, Friday night is not really suited to watering going forward.
Monday night’s watering took the Waterboys two and a-quarter hours. They used eight hundred litres of Harvested Rainwater. As a result of the recent heavy rainfall our tanks are filling up fast. All the Planters on Main Street, including the two Towers and the Planters at Eastgate were watered.
Thursday was a busy night for Pat Clarke and Pat Fennell as they ensured all the Planters were fed and watered. They spent two and three-quarter hours out with the Watering Trailer and got all the Planters including the Parklet watered. They used fourteen hundred litres of water and had just finished when the rain started.
LITTER PICK
The heavy rain on Sunday morning kept many of our regulars off the streets and so the numbers for the weekly Litter Pick were down.
We had however, eight brave souls who ventured out for the hour. And as the rain eased during the day more Volunteers came out to do Litter Picks.
Several Volunteers carried out daily Litter Picks during the week.
The totals collected for the entire week (Sunday included) were –
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Eleven bags of Litter.
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One bag of Plastic.
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One bag of Glass.
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One bag of Cans.
One bag of Grass Cuttings was collected from Leo Murphy Terrace.
TO SPRAY OR NOT TO SPRAY
Ballincollig Tidy Towns is so disappointed to see so many signs around Ballincollig sprayed with black paint. Time and money have been wasted trying to clean off this paint from the various signs. Time and money that the group can ill afford.
Ballincollig Tidy Towns has received many calls and emails from members of the community with regard to this. They are saddened to see the town being spoiled and the hard work BTT does being undone.
People are frustrated having been in lockdown for so long but defacing signs leaves our Volunteers and Workers with the extra work of having to try to clean each and every one.
Ballincollig is being judged for the SuperValu National Tidy Towns competition and instead of the judges seeing the place looking its best, they are greeted with all these signs sprayed with paint.
Practically all the signs around the town had already been cleaned over the past few months by the Volunteers, so you can imagine their sadness and frustration facing this mess now.
It will definitely have a negative impact on the overall look of the town in the eyes of the judges, to our many visitors and to us as a community.
Having been stood down for so many months as a result of the coronavirus, it was important to Ballincollig Tidy Towns to make up for lost time and have the town looking its best. Everyone has been working so hard and have given many hours to projects, especially during Tuesday and Thursday Work Nights. This is when we get through the majority of our projects.
However, as a result of this spraying, we have had to use up valuable hours to try and clean these signs, leaving us caught for time needed to tackle vital projects we wanted to complete before winter.
PLEASE, before you take a can of spray paint in your hands again can you stop and see how important it is to all of us as a community to work together instead of working against each other.
THURSDAY WORK NIGHT
Six Volunteers tackled the overgrown area near the ‘Welcome to Ballincollig’ sign at Poulavone.
They worked solidly for an hour and it made such a difference. The job was completed and everything was removed to be recycled at the Allotment.
