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Campaign to tackle scourge of litter and graffiti in city

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IN a bid to clean up Galway City, groups will be asked to choose an area they will keep free of litter and graffiti.

 

The ‘Adopt a Spot’ initiative will be launched by Galway City Tidy Towns (GCTT) in the coming weeks and will be open to residents associations, businesses, schools and voluntary groups.

Participants will be urged to pick up litter and help remove graffiti tags and fly-posting on buildings.

Cllr Niall McNelis, chairperson of GCTT, said the project will encourage businesses and residents alike to “take ownership of their areas”.

He believes the initiative could reap long-term financial benefits for the city as the millions of euro in commercial rates that are currently spent on cleaning up Galway could be re-directed to develop community services and build new amenities such as playgrounds.

The city also plans to adopt an Australian anti-graffiti model called TAG. The ‘Taskforce against Graffiti’ will give group leaders a paint supply to ensure that graffiti tags on walls are removed within 24 hours where possible – an action that greatly reduces the likelihood of the location being re-targeted.

According to Cllr McNelis, ‘Adopt a Spot’ will make Galway “a nicer place to live, work and visit”.

The GCTT will give a presentation on the initiative to the Galway City Business Association tomorrow (Wednesday). Both organisations will co-ordinate the project alongside the Galway Chamber and the Galway Volunteer Centre.

The ongoing campaign to make Galway cleaner was given a boost this week when the city’s West End Traders received an Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) award in recognition of their efforts to tidy up the city centre through a mix of clean-up days, anti-fly-posting measures, painting and provision of cleaning equipment. The initiative was brought about by the businesses themselves in conjunction with Galway City Council.

The group saw off stiff competition from Limerick, Killarney, Drogheda and Tralee among others to be named as the inaugural winners of the IBAL Business Award.

The body represents over 100 businesses in an area that encompasses Dominick Street, Ravens Terrace, William Street West, Henry Street, The Small Crane and Sea Road.

Dr Tom Cavanagh of IBAL commended the West End Traders for “creating a real sense of community spirit” – something that is “not easy to achieve” in an urban area like Galway.

“We need to see similar groups thrive in our other cities. At a time when local authority resources are so constrained, areas will not be well maintained without this level of self-initiative,” added Dr Cavanagh.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel

 

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