Sir, - We wish to question the widespread inclination to prioritise the seemingly endemic litter problem over the potentially more damaging, far more serious, and much longer lasting problem of poor infrastructure planning for towns and villages throughout Ireland.
Assuming that the village of Innishannon, Co Cork, is representative of other small communities, we cite here one particular problem in infrastructure planning. The village has more than trebled in size in the past 10 years. Being a scenic village - on the banks of the Bandon River, with lush woods, and a particularly lovely old church that is listed by Duchas and the Huguenot Society - and in close proximity to Cork, it is an attractive area for developers and new home buyers in the present Celtic Tiger economy. Unfortunately, development of the community has progressed without due consideration to the proportionate development of its small village infrastructure.
Innishannon (no doubt like many other small communities) is now in the cart-before-the-horse situation of trying desperately to make the infrastructure catch up with the burgeoning population. Indeed, a lid has been put on further development until a waste disposal facility is constructed. This is an urgent problem. Innishannon desperately needs such a facility. This is indisputable. What is disputable, however, is that our local authority is responding to the pressure of developers by pushing ahead with a sewerage treatment facility on an entirely inappropriate site - between the old churchyard wall and the Bandon River, two of Innishannon's prime amenities. That the proposed plant is obsolete before it is even built is a travesty; that the proposed site is within 30 meters of residential properties (and therefore a potential health hazard) is worse; that the proposed plant will grossly diminish the village's heritage and amenities is an utter insult.
Neither the developers nor our local authority seem to be aware of the potential and irreparable damage the location of the proposed waste disposal facility will have on the community. Further, they do not appear to care that the proposed site does not provide adequate space for development as the community continues to grow. To make matters worse, our local authority representatives do not seem to be adequately informed to tell us whether the proposed facility meets EU standards for waste disposal.
Many of the undersigned work on a daily basis to keep the village free of litter and sufficiently attractive to figure strongly in the annual Tidy Towns competition. We care deeply for our community and concur wholeheartedly that the community needs a waste disposal facility. What we contest is the proposed site of that facility.
The underlying issue, of course, is that in the presently flourishing economy, we are courting a type of "immediate gratification" that lines the pockets of developers, provides homes for those who can afford them, and altogether forgets the foundations and long-term ramifications of development.
All things considered, therefore, picking up cigarette butts, sweets wrappers and dog defecation, brushing footpaths and displaying splendid window boxes are poignantly cosmetic efforts. Perhaps we should all remember that those cherished Tidy Town points will ultimately be lost for poor planning, should the proposed plant go ahead. We are dealing here with a far more serious quantity of excrement than any dog could dump on a footpath in 1,000 lifetimes. - Yours, etc.
Tim Barry, Ellen Beardsley, Joe Dwyer, Gavin Falk, Tom Davis, Mary O'Donovan, Willie O'Donovan, Valerie Dorrity, Innishannon, Co Cork.