Tidy Towns flower displays dumped into Skibbereen river

A BACK road leading to Lough Hyne has been used as a dump site while expensive plants were thrown into Skibbereen’s Ilen River at the weekend.

Resident Anne Crossey photographed the dumped household furniture and spoke to The Southern Star before reporting the fly tipping incident to Cork County Council.

Given that most bring sites will take such waste, Anne said the wilful dumping of such rubbish made her angry. She claimed it is ‘disrespectful’ to residents and shows a lack of care for the environment.

‘If one person dumps stuff then maybe others might feel emboldened to do it as well,’ she added.

Anne said it is her hope that the rubbish might contain something that will identify the perpetrator and lead to a successful prosecution.

Meanwhile, in the early hours of Sunday morning, six large flower containers were emptied of their contents and thrown into the Ilen River at Kennedy Bridge, adjacent to the West Cork Hotel.

The flowers – including petunias, salvias, begonia and bidens – were still in full bloom, having been planted in early June and regularly maintained by the volunteer members of Skibbereen Tidy Towns.

They were planted in time for the judging of the tidy towns’ competition and Francis Hunt, the tidy towns pro, estimated the cost of the plants to be €400.

It was part of a scheme of planting that was replicated at the other side of the bridge, and towards the Schull Road roundabout, which mercifully remained intact.

‘Six of the 14 containers are now completely empty and look like an eyesore instead of the much-admired display it once was,’ said Francis.

The pro confirmed that they contacted the gardaí, who are now investigating the incident, and are checking CCTV footage.

‘For the small number of volunteers that go out every week this is very disheartening,’ said Francis, who said the loss could have a bearing on their planting programme next year.

‘Our budget is very tight. We spend about €4,000 each year on plants alone, as well as the additional cost of maintaining them, so to lose €400 worth is a significant loss,’ he added.

‘We can’t afford to see such wastage, but what is worse is that the flowers were literally thrown away into the fast-flowing river, and all that remained was the wilting contents of one box on the river bank.’