Longford comfortably regains 'Clean' status in latest IBAL litter survey
Longford town moved up the national rankings to 14th place out of 40 towns and cities. See how your area performed.
Longford Town has improved again in and moved up to 14th place out of 40 towns and cities surveyed nationwide in relation to tidiness and cleanliness.
The latest June quarterly results by An Taisce inspectors—who carry out the independent (Irish Business Against Litter) IBAL surveys—highlighted both pristine locations and problem areas in the town.
Longford has made significant gains compared to two years ago when it ranked a lowly 35th out of 40 towns and cities surveyed.
Top ranking sites included the residential area of Teffia Park, the N4 Axis Centre and the N4 from Padraic Colum
Roundabout direction – the latter was particularly freshly presented and maintained.
By far the most heavily littered site surveyed was Little Water Street – items included pallets / builders’ rubble and a broken wooden fencing which has allowed dumping to take place within.
This area needs attention, to prevent further deterioration.
A breakdown of different areas is below with the grade that they received from An Taisce inspectors.
N4 Axis Centre: Grade A
This busy centre was well maintained and very good with regards to litter.
Picnic tables were in good order and the overall impression with regards to litter was a good one.
Clearly it is a very well managed site as there is an abundance of food outlets here and there was not
evidence of waste associated with same.
Main Street: Grade B
There was a nice use of on-street planters and floral arrangements along this street.
The most obvious litter items were cigarette butts, with lower levels of dog fouling, sweet papers, chewing gum and shopping receipts. Items were most obvious on the kerbs at the parking area / close to Spar shop.
Ballymahon Street: Grade B+
The majority of this busy shopping street was good with regards tolitter, but there were some items at the entrance to a vacant property – e.g. cardboard boxes.
The nature of the footpath was such that chewing gum was particularly obvious.
N4 and R393 from Edgesworthtown: Grade A
Road surface / markings / signage along this wide and sweeping road were in good order.
This busy route presented very well, with well maintained roundabout.
It was very much deserving of the top litter grade.
Longford Railway Station: Grade B+
Not much effort is required for this site to get the top litter grade.
Old and recent litter along some parts of the railway track bring down an otherwise tidy and well presented environment.
Litter bins were in particularly good order.
R198 from Main Street to N4 Axis centre: Grade A
All was in very good order along this route, creating a welcoming and very positive first impression of Longford.
The area appeared well attended.
Teffia Park: Grade A
The residential area of Teffia Park was very much deserving of the top litter grade – there were no obvious litter issues throughout – well done to all concerned.
N4, from Padraic Colum Roundabout direction: Grade A. This was an excellent site in terms of overall presentation and maintenance. There were no litter issues.
It created a well-attended and welcoming impression.
River Camlin Environs, at Little Water Street and Bridge Street: Grade A
While there were no litter issues, the area was somewhat neglected / untidy and may encourage littering.
Little Water Street: Grade C
The overall impression at this ‘mixed-use’ site was an untidy and unkempt environment, with pallets and building materials.
The broken wooden fencing has allowed dumping to happen within. Such areas will only deteriorate further, if not addressed.