Ballincollig Tidy Towns has 2020 vision

Chairman’s 2020 vision for the year ahead

The Roaring Twenties are back and we in Tidy Towns want Ballincollig to make its own history during the coming year. For the year that’s in it and with Cork due to play a major role in the War of Independence Centenary Commemorations, we want Ballincollig to feature in its own right. For the past two years Ballincollig was placed within a point or two of the coveted prize of SuperValu National Tidy Town Winner. It would be a wonderful achievement if that elusive position could finally be reached. Your continued support and commitment can go a long way in helping to achieve this. The focus for the year will be to extend the Pollinator Corridor throughout Ballincollig and in so doing increase people’s awareness and knowledge of how important Biodiversity is in today’s world and what we can do to play our part. Ballincollig Tidy Towns is working to make Ballincollig a ‘Spray Free’ town and we will be rolling out our new logo in the coming weeks. A ‘Spray Free’ Committee is being put together to meet with the town’s various estates and encourage them to become ‘Spray Free’ areas. Each converted estate will then get to display the logo at their entrance. A new decade allows the opportunity for change and so we have decided to completely revamp our Estates Competition. Special marks for those displaying the ‘Spray Free’ logo will now be incorporated into the judging. Estates that have made an effort to contribute to the Pollinator Corridor and Biodiversity in their area will also earn extra marks. We are planning many projects for Ballincollig in the coming months. During our first week back after the Christmas and new year period we hit the ground running with several small projects from our Winter Cleaning Programme. Definitely a good start.

Our Winter Cleaning Programme for Ballincollig has now begun. Ballincollig Tidy Towns has put together several small projects to start off the new year. One of these projects saw work being carried out on the footpaths on the Inniscarra Road and on what is known locally as the GAA Road. In addition we started cleaning the debris around the car park at the rear of Quish’s SuperValu and O’Crualaoi’s. We work on various projects throughout the year not just at competition time. Our Volunteers also carry out daily Litter Picks with some even working on Christmas Day. This all year round work helps keep Ballincollig looking its best.

The Poop Sleuth! Shout out to all dogs in the Ballincollig area. I may have seen many of you while I’m making my way through the Regional Park on the end of a lead or trotting along the main street. Perhaps we sniffed in greeting or you passed by with your head held high, tail wagging wrapped up in your own thoughts. Well I need to have a serious word with some of you. No matter how many signs or dog fouling bins some owners still manage to let you poop and walk on and not scoop. One of the main causes of irritation to humans – including many dog owners – is fouling in public places. We all have to share the same recreational space and there is nothing worse than having to constantly look for dog poop to make sure we don’t get it on our paws or on our owner’s shoes or small children stepping on or falling into it. Hey we can be held accountable for the poop but it is our owners who are accountable for the scoop. We are here to give loving licks, play catch, be loyal and act goofy, that is what we do best. In return our owners should ensure that our poop is cleaned up no matter where we drop it. Leaving it where it is a real health hazard, on pavements, in parks and playgrounds, or even on the beach and it is also against the law. We as dogs have to make sure our owners do us proud in the canine world and pick up our poop as it also contains bacteria that can be dangerous for human’s health. We’ve got to see what we can do to get them to ‘Bag It and Bin It’. So be aware I may be walking but I’m still watching.

We were delighted to see that our website had a very high number of visitors throughout the past year and we are hoping our daily updated content will create even more traffic in 2020. It has become a point of reference for many in Ballincollig and the surrounding areas. Why not take a look. Visit our website on www.ballincolligtidytowns.ie.

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