Waterford has once again been crowned Ireland's cleanest city.
The latest IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter) survey, conducted by An Taisce, also shows Ballybeg in the city is cleaner than European norms.
The survey shows Waterford City and Ballybeg both improving to just outside the Top 10 in the ranking of 40 towns and cities.
The An Taisce report for Ballybeg stated:'Ballybeg has scored exceptionally well this time around – well done to all concerned. With seven top-ranking sites there are some which deserve a mention, particularly the Bring Facility at Tesco Ballybeg as this has regularly been a heavily littered site in previous surveys. All approach roads are presented well. The residential areas of Ardmore Terrace and Clonard Park were both much better than previous IBAL surveys – this time around they just missed the top litter grade. By far the most heavily littered site was Ballybeg Stores / Ballybeg Pizza and Environs. Development was taking place at the adjoining site (formerly Ryan’s) - perhaps this will breathe some new life into what was a heavily littered area.'
The An Taisce report for Waterford City stated:
'Again our cleanest city, Waterford City has actually improved on its previously strong showings, with only one heavily littered site, beside Vee Car Park. It was particularly encouraging to see notable improvements at a couple of sites e.g. ‘Bring Facility’ at Tesco Ardkeen (very much deserving of the top litter grade) and the Miscellaneous Woodpecker Site was much improved but clearly requires constant monitoring. Some sites deserve special mention, particularly with regards to the overall presentation and maintenance of same: Viking Triangle / Museum Quarter was exceptionally good; Broad Street / Barronstrand Street was attractively laid out with lovely seating, trees providing coverage for those looking for a place to sit in the shade and very good street furniture; works continue apace at the beautiful People’s Park – it was excellent with regards to litter; the residential area of Bowefield / Riverpark was spotless; substantial works have taken place along Grattan Quay/approach from Greenway – the result is a lovely, welcoming route into the city. It was noted that the relic of ‘Waterford Crystal’ along Cork Road has finally been addressed – construction is underway with SETU signage indicating plans for the future.'
The study, conducted by An Taisce on behalf of IBAL, showed a healthy rise in towns reaching the upper tier of cleanliness – ‘Cleaner than European Norms’ - and a fall of 35% in the number of towns branded ‘littered’.
