THE opening hours of civic amenity sites in West Cork cannot be expanded without additional funding being made available.
BY DAVID FORSYTHE
Director of Cork County Council’s environment directorate Louis Duffy announced this at a recent meeting of the Council’s Western Divisional Committee held in Clonakilty.
A notice of motion put to the meeting stated: ‘The members of the West Cork MD are calling for a review of the opening hours, staffing levels and cover arrangements for all civic amenity sites.’
Beara councillor Finbarr Harrington (Ind) told the meeting that during the summer short notice closures and erratic opening hours in Castletownbere had caused ‘a lot of frustration’ particularly for local businesses.
He said that local cafes and restaurants were delayed in opening their premises because staff had to come from Schull to cover sick leave resulting in the facility not opening until 10.30am on some mornings.
Cllr Harrington said that a woman from Allihies had driven to the site with her recycling and her children in the car only to discover when she got there that the site was closed.
She was unable to do her shopping as a result and was forced to return home with her rubbish.
He asked if the hours could be reviewed, particularly on Friday mornings to allow for early opening even as a ‘short term solution.’
Bantry councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy (FF) said that the Council ‘should be making it as easy as possible for people to do the right thing.’
He said that providing civic amenity sites was a ‘core service’ and should be a priority.
County mayor Joe Carroll said the problem was a symptom of low numbers of outdoor staff available.
‘We had five or six people in Skibbereen at one time, six or seven here (Clonakilty). When the town councils went, they promised us we would get the same level of service. That was a lie,’ he said. FF Cllr Deirdre Kelly asked if a cardboard recycling facility could be reintroduced in Dunmanway on a trial basis as it was ‘badly needed.’
However, Louis Duffy said that currently there was no budget available for additional facilities.
He said that it was a ‘disappointing summer’ in terms of some of the short notice staffing arrangements, but added that the reality was that there was not a high level of usage at some locations which were running at a loss.
Divisional manager Michael Lynch said that a national review of policy was ongoing and he anticipated ‘outcomes in 2025’ regarding additional funding.
