Illegal dumping in this Kildare town 'absolutely disgraceful' – Cllr
The dumping occurred in Sallins, Co Kildare recently
A Naas councillor has slammed as “absolutely disgraceful”, illegal dumping which recently occurred in Sallins, Co Kildare.
Cllr Bill Clear (Independent Ireland) posted details of the crime - which took place in a field across from Lidl in Sallins - on social media this week.
According to Cllr Clear, everything from building waste, gas bottles, toxic waste, domestic waste, fires and mattresses were left discarded at the former meat factory building site.
Ironically, Cllr Clear pointed out, much of the waste could have been legally disposed of by other means.
The former occupants of the site, Cllr Clear said, have since vacated, having spent just two weeks on the plot of land.
Speaking to The Leinster Leader this week, Cllr Clear said: “It's incredibly bad, it's really really bad, it will cost €10,000 to clean it up at least.
“The council have gone in and inspected the bags and found a number of personal details of people, so they will be prosecuting. The fine has gone from €150 to €250 and they will receive fines in the post and failure to pay will end up in court and will be doubled and will continue to be doubled again.
“The problem with this is one, these guys are getting work done and the builders are going in and paying these people to dump the stuff in there, and two, these people are going around doing landscaping and building themselves and then they're dumping all the stuff there.
“People think they're getting a good price, but when the fines follow, it's false economy.”
Cllr Clear explained that a similar group of caravans arrived at the same site last year, but while gardai visited the area several times, “they won't intervene because it's private property.”
The only solution, argued Cllr Clear, is a change in the by-laws governing illegal encampments.
He added: “I was really angry to think that people can do this and destroy our environment, and that they think that they're above the law.
“I'm very angry over it, because it's happening again and again and again, and they're getting away with it all the time. It's time to clamp down; by-laws should have been enacted against all of this years and years ago.
“The government can enact by-laws to prevent this, but they're afraid to do anything against a certain group of society.”