CCTV to monitor bring centres

Nine locations to get cameras

Cavan County Council has secured funding to install permanent CCTV for nine bring centres across the county in the latest effort to clamp down on illegal dumping.

The update was provided to members of the Ballyjamesduff MD meeting following a motion by Cllr Craig Lovett. The Fianna Fáil man had sought clarification on the maintenance of bring centres and an overview of litter management across the district.

Addressing the chamber Cllr Lovett said, in certain instances, the bring centres were not able to cope with the the volume of recyclable material the public brought to them. He said this resulted in a build up and patrons of the facilities leave the material beside the banks when they are full.

“People come and just leave their rubbish on the ground, that is not recycling,” Cllr Lovett said.

Engineer with Cavan County Council, John McGahern, explained that the local authority operates a network of 30 recycling bring centres across the county with 10 of these located in the Ballyjamesduff MD (Arva, Ballinagh, Ballyjamesduff, Cornafean, Crossdoney, Killydoon, Kilnaleck, Mullagh, Munterconnaught, Virginia). These site accept plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars, food and beverage cans and clothes and textiles.

“Receptacles at each site are emptied at least once a week by our appointed contractors, with the busier sites being emptied twice a week. Our community wardens conduct regular patrols of all sites to deter/monitor illegal dumping and fly tipping and remove waste for investigative purposes and appropriate disposal. In normal circumstances, patrols of each site are undertaken twice a week,” Mr McGahern said.

He continued: “However, since COVID-19, we have seen a dramatic uptake in the usage of these facilities with some sites experiencing over 50% increase in the volumes of materials deposited. As a result there has also been a sharp increase of dumping of household waste at most locations. To cope with this increase, each site is serviced on a daily basis by our community wardens and our contractors have also increased collection rates to ensure receptacles are not left full for long periods. Where receptacles are full, the public are advised to bring their recyclables home and either come back to this site at a later date or visit a nearby bring centre.”

The members heard that the Council has undertaken upgrade and improvement works at a number of recycling bring centres across the county in recent years. Improvement works have included providing improved signage at Kilnaleck and Virginia facilities, with Ballinagh, Ballyjamesduff and Mullagh to receive improved signage in 2020 as part of the Anti-Dumping Initiative 2020.

“In addition to this, the council has also secured funding to install permanent overt CCTV for nine bring centres across the county. In the Ballyjamesduff MD, CCTV will be deployed at Ballyjamesduff, Mullagh and Virginia Bring Centres. All works should be completed by the end of July,” Mr McGahern confirmed.

Councillors were also told that there are covert cameras that are in use for the monitoring of sites that have gathered footage used in the prosecution of illegal dumping.

Cllr Philip Brady (FF) said that, as well as monitoring the bring centres, the covert cameras had also been instrumental in the successful prosecution of people engaged in fly tipping.