Kerry waste bye-laws 'too technical' to comprehend

Draft household waste bye-laws in Co Kerry are too difficult to read, even for people with legal training, according to a solicitor…

Draft household waste bye-laws in Co Kerry are too difficult to read, even for people with legal training, according to a solicitor who is also a councillor.

The seven pages of laws on "the Presentation of Household and Commercial Waste for Collection" govern towns as well as rural areas and will be on display for comment until the middle of the month. They will come into force in January.

Most of the 23 sections that explain to residents in the county what and what not to put into their waste bins, how to close their bins and in what direction to face the handles feature sentences that comprise 80 to 100 words. The language is difficult and full of legal terminology which would normally need an explanatory leaflet, said Ms Miriam McGillycuddy, a Labour councillor in Tralee.

"I am a solicitor. It took me ages to read this. How can a normal member of the public be expected to read and understand these? These should be intelligible and in plain English," Ms McGillycuddy said.

READ MORE

"In these laws all the definitions are set out at the start and people have to go back and forth to try to understand them," she said.

"I would feel we have a duty if we are putting something up for public consultation to make it as straightforward as possible".

The concepts of the law were not difficult, as long as they were in simple language, she said.

"If you go into court, ignorance of the law is no defence. But how are people to understand these laws?" In the laws, "prescribed" , which is used extensively, is defined in four different ways, and for a definition of premises the public is referred to the Waste Management Acts 1996 to 2003.

The laws have also been criticised because minute decisions on how far down to close the lid of the rubbish bin and in which direction to point the handles of wheelie bins are being taken out of the hands of the major towns.

The final decision on the laws for waste collection in Tralee, Killarney and other towns in the county, rest with the county council. These include the times refuse will be collected and "that the handles of the wheeled bin be pointed in the direction of the public road".

Kerry towns will be able to make submissions for consideration that cater for their needs, Tralee town engineer Mr Gerry Riordan explained.

However, the mayor of Tralee, Mr Johnny Wall ( FF), said it represented a further erosion of autonomy in towns.

According to the Department of the Environment, a number of acts come into play in the collection of waste. Under the 1996 Waste Management Act, and as amended by the Protection of Environment Act 2003, the county council, or city council, was the prescribed body to act for the whole county, and not town councils.