Kildare residents urged to be ‘proactive’ and to clean up their localities

A county councillor has called on County Kildare residents to be "proactive" when it comes to keeping their local areas clean.

Fianna Fáil Cllr David Trost made his opinion known to Kildare County Council (KCC) while in attendance at the latest Celbridge-Leixlip Municipal District meeting, which took place on Friday, November 21 last.

The comments were made in relation to a motion that he submitted at the meeting, in which he requested for KCC to provide "specific guidelines" concerning the clearance of debris and overgrown vegetation in and around the Liffey Bridge in Celbridge. 

In addition, he wanted KCC to "communicate directly with the owners responsible for arranging and funding the clearance" in order to avoid any potential future flooding.

His motion was seconded by his party colleague, Cllr Bernard Caldwell.

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In response to Cllr Trost's motion, KCC said via the report it presented at the meeting: "The responsibility for these works lies with the riparian landowners, i.e. the owners of land or property which is located on the banks of a watercourse.

"The Office of Public Work’s (OPW) National Flood Information Portal provides some practical advice and assistance for the management of watercourses."

KCC also included a summary of the responsibilities of a riparian owner:

• "Passing on water flow without obstruction, pollution or diversion affecting the rights
  of others"
• "Managing the channel for the purposes of flood risk and having due regard for the needs of wildlife and giving space for nature"
• "Maintaining the bed and banks of the watercourse (including trees and shrubs growing on the banks), taking appropriate steps to prevent erosion of the banks, clearing any debris, whether or not it originated from your land"
• "Maintaining free passage for fish"
• "Keeping clear any structures that you own such as culverts and weirs"

"Further information is available from the OPW website at https://www.floodinfo.ie," KCC concluded.

'WE NEED TO BE PROACTIVE HERE'

Speaking further on his motion, Cllr Trost told KCC that he wanted to "really emphasise the importance of having the area cleaned up".

He also said: "We need to be proactive here."

Cllr Trost suggested one example that, in his view, residents could take to be proactive- they could go out in their locality with black bags and pick up leaves.

"Just look after one another," he added.

A representative for KCC said that the maintenance and clean up "is the responsibility of the homeowners".

Furthermore, the Mayor of the MD, Labour Party Cllr Rupert Heather, told Cllr Trost that while he agreed with his sentiment that residents should look after one another, he also said: "We have to acknowlegde that the Parks Department [of KCC] is under severe pressure."

Fianna Fáil Cllr David Trost. Photograph credit: kildarecoco.ie

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