Litter Pollution Act, 1997

For the purposes of information it has come to the attention of the Community Association that persons associated with the "Anti-Bin Tax Campaign" have advised residents that the following sections of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997 provide, in their view, the legal basis upon which householders may lawfully place household refuse in the back of the Council’s Bin Lorries.

However, please note that the Community Association is not currently in a position to ascribe such a broad meaning to these sections and therefore, it continues to advise residents to refrain from such direct action.

Litter Pollution Act, 1997

SECTION 3

3.—(1) No person shall deposit any substance or object so as to create litter in a public place or in any place that is visible to any extent from a public place.

(2) No person shall—

( a ) deposit any thing that is commercial, household, industrial or municipal waste in any place for collection by or on behalf of a local authority or by another person, or

( b ) load, transport, unload or otherwise handle or process any thing or carry on a business, trade or activity in such circumstances as to create litter or lead to litter in any public place or any place that is visible to any extent from a public place.

(3) No person shall place municipal waste into or near a litter receptacle.

(4) No person shall move or interfere with a litter receptacle that has been provided by a local authority or other person unless the movement or interference is authorised by the local authority or other person.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (3), "municipal waste" has the meaning assigned by section 5 of the Waste Management Act, 1996 .

(6) A person who contravenes any provision of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

SECTION 5

5.—Nothing in section 3 shall be construed as prohibiting—

( a ) the deposit of waste in a receptacle or place provided for the purpose of such waste,

( b ) the deposit in any place of a receptacle containing any commercial, household, municipal or industrial waste for collection by or on behalf of a local authority or by another authorised waste collector within the meaning of the Waste Management Act, 1996 , or

( c ) the deposit of waste at a civic waste facility, within the meaning of section 38 of the Waste Management Act, 1996 ,

provided that reasonable care is taken to prevent the creation of litter.

EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURS DAY

On Tuesday 27th May 2008, communities throughout the European Union will mark "European Neighbours Day" with social events and fairs aimed at promoting social inclusion and at encouraging communities to tackle loneliness, especially amongst our senior citizens in our neighbourhoods. The Community Association warmly welcomes suggestions for possible local initiatives on the lines of "European Neighbours Day". For further information please checkout the website:- http://www.european-neighbours-day.eu/

UNWELCOME DEVELOPMENTS IN THE "BIN TAX" DISPUTE

There is much disquiet and general concern at recent developments in the long-running “Bin Tax” dispute which have been brought to the attention of the Community Association by residents in the Cross Avenue area.

Following an incident on Monday 12th May 2008 in Desmond Avenue involving local residents and unidentified “officials” of the County Council, the Chairperson of the Community Association was requested by a number of residents, mainly elderly, to investigate the incident.

It is alleged by the local residents that a number of unidentified men rushed into Desmond Avenue seeking to prevent some of the local residents placing their refuse bags directly into the County Council’s bin lorry. They described the incident as frightening and extremely intimidating causing considerable distress to older residents, many of whom, had only one or two tiny plastic bags of household refuse.

The placing of refuse bags directly by local residents into the County Council’s bin trucks and thus avoiding the need to purchase “Bin Tags” was a central part of an initiative directed and implemented by persons associated with the countywide “Anti-Bin Tax” campaign.

Irrespective of the justification or otherwise of the so called “Bin Tax” the Community Association has consistently advised residents against this form of direct action as it could clearly lead to injury and, depending on circumstances, to legal action been initiated against those involved. Advice to the residents from some quarters to the effect that they have some "legal right" to place their bin bags directly into the Council's bin trucks is not supported by the Community Association.

On Friday 16th May 2008 a photocopy of a notice purporting to have been issued by the County Council’s Environment Department was delivered to each household in the Cross Avenue area of central Dún Laoghaire.

Residents, especially the elderly, were alarmed at the perceived threatening tone of this notice and, once again, contacted the Chairperson of the Community Association.

The text of notice is as follows:

TO OWNER/OCCUPIER,

It has come to the attention of the Council that some residents are leaving bags of rubbish for collection by the Council on the public footpath/roadway without proper labels. It should be noted that this constitutes littering and is in breach of the litter Pollution Acts for which fines/prosecutions may be initiated. Only bags of household rubbish with prepaid Council labels should be presented for collection by the Council. The green bags for recyclables, which are provided and collected by Oxigen, should only contain items for recycling.

Some residents have also been placing their bags of rubbish directly into the Councils bin trucks themselves. This practice is both illegal and dangerous. No member of the public is allowed to deposit rubbish in Council bin trucks.

The Council will take all steps necessary which may include use of CCTV to address this illegal practice.

Please note that bag collection labels can be purchased at the Council offices on Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire and Dundrum.

Environmental Services Department
DLR CO CO

(Council Logo etc)

(END TEXT)

As the County Council can very easily obtain the names and addresses of each purchaser of “Bin Tags” from own its records, the Community Association views this type of general notice to be unnecessarily provocative and, in many ways, counter-productive.

Individually addressed letters should have been sent to each household which has not purchased “Bin Tags” asking for assurances as to their lawful disposal of household waste and, if necessary, proof thereof. In response to the County Council claims of local illegal dumping of black bags, this course of action was suggested to the County Council over a year ago by the Community Association.

The threat to install CCTV in the small streets with terraced houses and no gardens in the Cross Avenue area is regrettable and may, in fact, represent a direct, unwarranted and possibly unlawful invasion of the privacy of the citizens residing in these streets. The question as to whether such a draconian measure would ever be considered by the County Council for any areas other than those with social housing has been raised several times by local residents.

In the hope of an early and amicable resolution, the Community Association urges the County Council to reconsider its course of action in respect of this on-going dispute.