Kilkenny County Council in partnership with every citizen in the County has a crucial role to play in the protection of our natural environment. The core objective of the Corporate Plan for the Environment Section is to promote and nurture the environment for the benefit of the current and future generations. With ever increasing pressures through economic development, growth in population and the change in living standards impacting upon our environment, the Local Authority is pivotally positioned to ensure through advice, education and enforcement that our environment is properly protected.

Kilkenny County Council and all local authorities are responsible for in excess of 500 environmental protection functions under the headings of air, noise, planning, waste, waste water and water quality. These functions are contained within some 100 pieces of legislation. With a team of 44 staff (including indoor and outdoor staff) hard work and dedication is given by the Environment Section Team to ensure that our responsibilities and functions are fulfilled.

The key areas dealt with include:

• Waste Management
• Education & Awareness
• Water Quality
• Veterinary Services
• Parks

 

Waste Management

Dunmore Landfill

The Environment Section operates a landfill about 5km north of the City at Dunmore (Licence no. 30-2). The landfill comprises 12 lined waste cells with provision for a further 2 cells. Construction of these 2 cells commenced in 2005. Major improvement and upgrading works were carried out recently to ensure the facility continues to operate to the highest standard.

 

Dunmore Recycling Centre

Kilkenny County Council operates its state of the art Recycling Centre adjacent to Dunmore Landfill. This facility accepts all types of segregated household waste for recycling. Commercial recyclable waste is not accepted at the facility. A new service for the free take-back of household waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) commenced at the Centre in 2005. The Centre, coupled with the widespread availability of kerbside collection has resulted in a household recycling rate for the County of 18%.

 

Recycling

42 bring sites are now in place, taking glass and cans. 13 of these sites accept food cans, and 1 site accepts plastic bottles, newspapers and cardboard.

The bring banks are emptied on a regular basis, but because they are so popular, can cause waste management problems coupled with litter problems. CCTV cameras are now installed on a trial basis at some of these bring sites to deter such activity. In addition, the Environment Enforcement Team regularly carries out surveillance operations in an effort to curtail illegal activity.

 

Transfrontier Shipment of Waste

Under the requirements of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 259/93 and National Regulations SI No 149 of 1998, Waste Management (Transfrontier Shipment of Waste) Regulations, 1998, Kilkenny County Council is the Competent Authority of Dispatch for waste exports from the County. In 2005 there were 1137 shipments of waste under 5 separate TFS notifications. A financial bond is put in place with Kilkenny County Council for each of these shipments to cover costs in the event of a shipment being rejected. The bonds are not released until after Kilkenny County Council had received confirmation that the waste had been recovered / disposed in an environmentally sound manner. The Environment Section participates in the national TFS working group which meets regularly to discuss and advise on TFS matters and to ensure standardisation of procedures across all local authorities, and to network with agencies in other EU countries.

 

Waste Collection Permits

Kilkenny County Council is the nominated authority in the South East Region for issuing all waste collection permits as per the Waste Management Acts 1996 - 2003 and the Waste Management (Collection Permit) Regulations 2001 as amended. The Region comprises Carlow County Council, South Tipperary County Council, Waterford County Council, Waterford City Council and Wexford County Council.

The primary purpose of the permitting system is to facilitate appropriate controls on commercial collection activities for the purposes of environmental protection and to facilitate the implementation and achievement of relevant objectives in the waste management plan.

Kilkenny County Council has granted a total of 301 applications since the regulations were introduced. 63 applications were granted in 2005 and 115 permits reviewed.

The Environment Section held a workshop for waste collection permit holders, to ensure that they were aware of their obligations and in particular to deal with issues around their Annual Report which is required to be submitted to the Local Authority by February each year.

 

Waste Management Acts 1996 - 2003

A total of 109 Notices were issued under the Waste Management Acts 1996 - 2003 in 2004. These were for a range of unauthorised waste activities such as waste collection without a permit, burning waste, dumping waste at unauthorised sites and non-compliances with waste permits or waste collection permits.

 

Waste Management (Permit) Regulations, 1998

64 applications for waste permits were made under the Waste Management (Permit) Regulations, 1998 for facilities in County Kilkenny in 2005.

There are currently 70 permitted sites in the County. The operation of these permitted facilities was monitored by Kilkenny County Council's Environmental Enforcement Team. In all, a total of 40 inspections were carried out during the year.

The Environment Section held a workshop for waste permit holders, to ensure that they were aware of their obligations and in particular to deal with issues around their Annual Report which is required to be submitted to the Local Authority by February each year.
 

 

Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations, 2003

182 inspections of premises took place in 2005. Notices under Section 18 of the Waste Management Acts, 1996 to 2003 were served on businesses that were not fulfilling their obligations under the regulations.

2 major producers in Kilkenny are now registered with Kilkenny County Council as "Self Compliers" under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations, 2003. Other major producers took the option of joining Repak. The membership fees paid by the packaging producers are used to fund recycling initiatives by means of subsidies paid to collectors for packaging waste recycled.

Quarterly Seminars on the Packaging Regulations were organised by the OEE (EPA's Office of Environmental Enforcement) under the National Enforcement Network. The seminars provide feedback on the progress achieved by each local authority in checking compliance with the regulations and to make sure all local authorities apply the same standards when dealing with the Packaging Regulations.

 

Waste Management Plastic Bag Levy Regulations, 2001

200 inspections of business premises were carried out throughout the county to check compliance with regulations

 

Enforcement

10 vehicle checkpoints were carried out in 2005 at various locations throughout the county to check for illegal movements of waste. These were operated in partnership with An Garda Siochana.

A total of 1337 complaints were investigated.

 

Abandoned Vehicles

Section 71 of the Waste Management Acts 1996 - 2003 makes it an offence to abandon a vehicle on any land. 75 letters were issued in 2006 for cases of abandoned vehicles. Any costs incurred by Kilkenny County Council in the removal of abandoned vehicles is passed to the offender where they can be identified.

 

 

Education and Awareness

Litter Management Plan

Work has continued during 2005 under the Litter Management Plan 2003-2006. In addition to the resources expended on cleaning up our streets, over €185,000 was set aside for environmental education and awareness projects, most of which have an anti-litter theme.

The Free phone Litter Hotline 1-800-200-156 received 220 calls in 2005. This is a free phone number, and facilitates the public in reporting incidences of littering and illegal dumping to the Council. The litter e-mail address litter@kilkennycoco.ie can be used for the same purpose.

 

South East Waste Management Plan 2006-2011

The review of the SEWMP took place throughout 2005. The plan is on display in the Environment Section and can be downloaded free of charge from www.wastenot.ie

The plan was open to submissions from the public and these will be taken in consideration before the revised plan is finalized in early 2006.

A multi media campaign was launched in the autumn of 2005 to highlight the public consultation period of the plan. The theme of this multi media awareness campaign was "Recreate with Recycling". The various Media types used were Cinema advertising, Posters, Pull-ups Displays and Billboards. The campaign also included the creation of the "Reuse Refuse" film. The awareness campaign ran throughout the south east region and was coordinated by Kilkenny County Council.

 

Public Awareness

68 primary and secondary schools were visited on environmental awareness issues in 2005.

39 community groups, farmers groups and youth groups, etc., were also visited to raise awareness of waste management, recycling, composting and anti-litter initiatives.

482 compost bins were sold in 2005, bringing the total sales to 4907 or a composting rate in the county of approximately 20% through county council initiatives and subsidies. This rate is well above the national target of 7%

 

Green Schools

51 Kilkenny schools are now registered to participate in the Green Schools programme in association with An Taisce and the local authority.

The Green Flag is the most prestigious award that a school can achieve and is given to schools that take action to eliminate litter and reduce waste. Once the award has been achieved the schools then move on to address other issues such as energy and transport.

The county now has a total number of 13 Schools with a Green Flag. This represents a 44% growth on 2004 figures.

 

Environmental Education Programme

An Environmental Education Booking Form was sent out to every school in the County. This form is intended to show schools the education programme that is available through the Environment al Section of Kilkenny County Council. There was a tremendous response to the booking form with the Trip to the Dunmore Landfill and Civic Amenity Site proving the most popular.

 

Green Tips

This is a joint initiative between KCLR and Kilkenny County Council which sees easy examples of how people can improve their environment aired on the local radio station every day.

 

Kilkenny Green Flag Schools 2006

Representatives from Gaelscoil, Loch Buí receiving the prestigious Green Flag Award

 

School	Address	Flag
Primary Schools
Burnchurch National School	Cuffesgrange, Co.Kilkenny	awarded 1st flag
Gaelscoil Osraí	Loch Bui, Co.Kilkenny	awarded 1st flag
Kilkenny School Project	Springfields, Waterford Road, Kilkenny	awarded 3rd flag
Presentation Convent N.S.	Castlecomer, Co.Kilkenny
Scoil Bhride Lisdowney	Lisdowney Ballyragget, Co.Kilkenny
Slieverue N.S.	Slieverue Via Waterford, Co.Kilkenny
St. Brigid's National School	Kells, Co.Kilkenny	awarded 3rd flag
St. Canice's Co. Ed. N.S.	Granges Road, Co.Kilkenny
St. Colman's N.S.	Conahy Jenkinstown, Co.Kilkenny	awarded 2nd flag
St. Eoghan's N.S.	Kilmoganny, Co.Kilkenny	awarded 1st flag
St. John of God N.S.	New Street, Co.Kilkenny
Secondary Schools
Colaiste Mhuire	Johnstown Via Thurles, Co.Kilkenny
Scoil Aireagail	Ballyhale, Co.Kilkenny	awarded 1st flag

Representatives from An Taisce Green Schools Awards ceremony

 

National Spring Clean April 2005

In April 2005, Kilkenny County Council held 2 seminars in Kilkenny Castle to highlight the Race Against Waste "Action at Work" and correct waste Management Practices to the hospitality industry and also one for local community groups in relation to Spring Clean, Tidy Towns and Kilkenny County Council's anti litter and "Slim your Bin" messages.

The following issues were addressed at the Hospitality Industry Seminar

• Waste Water and Solid Waste
• The Litter Pollution Act
• Keep Kilkenny Beautiful
• Waste Management & Environmental Enforcement
• Action at Work & Small Change Programme
• An example of Action at Work - Faithlegg House
• Fairtrade

The following topics were showcased at the Local Community Group Seminar

• Race Against Waste
• Community Recycling Initiatives
• Litter Enforcement
• Environment al Awareness
• Available Grants
• Landscaping Architecture
• Heritage
• Listowel Tidy Towns Committee -Winners of the Heritage Section of the 2004 Tidy Towns Competition

Throughout the year, much time and finances were invested in organising regular clean ups by residents associations, tidy town groups, youth groups, etc. in towns, villages and rural areas in the county and the outcome was extremely successful. The policy to distribute tags/ bags and other clean-up equipment instead of skips has proven to be popular and successful.

 

Waste Minimisation

Through out the year an information stand was in place outside City Hall, High St. and at various Homes and Garden Exhibitions such as the Piltown show. This type of public information brought the work of the Environmental Office straight into the public domain. There was on average 100 queries per day, all in relation to waste minimisation and recycling.

Under the Environment al Partnership fund the Local Authority in conjunction with "The Irish Wildlife Trust" brought the Compost Crew to every Library and to 9 schools. The Compost Crew is an energetic crew that teach people all about the joy and wonder of making your biodegradable waste into super, natural compost.

 

Fair Trade 2005

Fair Trade Fortnight - March

Kilkenny County Council had adopted a Resolution to support FAIRTRADE. Fairtrade fortnight was used to promote the use and purchase of Fairly Traded products throughout Kilkenny. Since Fairtrade fortnight only FAIRTRADE tea and coffee are served throughout County Hall.

Fair Trade City - November

On the 28th of November Kilkenny was officially declared a Fair Trade City.

 

Recycling

2005 was an extremely successful year for Kilkenny County Council's recycling programme. By the end of 2005, 42 bring sites were in place taking glass and cans. 13 sites accept food cans, and 1 site accepts plastic bottles, newspapers and cardboard.

The Dunmore Civic Amenity site grew in popularity during 2005. At Dunmore it is possible to deposit recyclable items such as Paper (Mixed Paper, Light Cardboard) Corrugated Cardboard, Plastics (Light Plastic Packaging, Plastic Bottles), Untreated Timber , Metal (Mixed Metals), Glass (White, Green and Brown), Steel Food Cans, Aluminum Drinks Cans, Textiles (Clean Clothes, Sheets, Shoes), Household Hazardous Waste (Including Aerosols, Medicines, Fluorescent Tubes, Paints), Primary Batteries. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment including Fridges and Freezers are accepted at Dunmore free of charge. A new Oxfam bank now accepts CDs and books which will be sold on in their shop in Kilkenny.

Specialised Recyclable Materials include Waste Oils, Lead Acid Batteries, Standard Lead Acid Batteries, Tractor Batteries.

 

Hazardous Waste

The Chemcar will accept: Old Medicines, Aerosols, Anti-freeze, Batteries, Bleaches, Fluorescent tubes, weed killers and garden chemicals, Oils, Paints (but not empty paint tins), Adhesives, Household/ DIY chemicals

During 2005, Free Chemcar collections took place in Callan, Gowran, Johnstown , Mullinavat, Newrath, Piltown and Thomastown. A permanent Chemcar collection facility is also provided at Dunmore Civic Amenity Site.

 

Kerbside

The fortnightly KERBSIDE recycling service to over 15,000 households in the County continued to expand throughout 2005. The 2-bin, KERBSIDE, door to door refuse collection throughout Kilkenny City and County meets the requirements of the South East Waste Management Plan as well as heightening the public's awareness in relation to the merits of recycling.

Borough Council Kerbside Refuse Bags

Borough Council Kerbside Dry Recyclable Collection Bags

 

In-house waste minimisation

In 2005 the in-house waste minimisation "Action at Work" programme continued with the support of the Council's Partnership Committee. Waste paper shredding units have been provided throughout the building as part of this initiative. Compost Caddy's have also been placed in every office to collect compostable materials. A Recycling centre has been established near the canteen to cater for the collection of Glass and Plastic bottles, Steel and Aluminium cans. This initiative will raise awareness of waste reduction and recycling initiatives within the council buildings.

 

National Recycling Week

Radio Programmes on KCLR96FM for National Repak Recycling Week
"National Recycling Week" ran from the 3rd - 7th of October. In the interest of promoting N.R.W. Kilkenny County Council put forth the following proposal in relation to a programming schedule to KCLR96FM and this was agreed.
As well as being an educational tool it was an interesting and fun item. Competitions Prizes included:

• Vouchers for Dunmore Landfill Site
• T-shirts
• Posters
• Reusable Carry Bags
• Compost Bins

Issued covered included:

• Introduction to National Recycling Week and Recreate with Recycling
• Glass Recycling - Quinn Glass
• Paper Recycling - Smith Anderson Mill
• Tetra Pak recycling - Marie Keirnan Tetra Pak Ireland
• Green Schools - 1st theme is Litter and Recycling
• Talk about the school - tips for the schools etc
• Oxfam book recycling - Joanna Hegarty
• Can recycling - Alucan
• Rehab - Richard Jordan
• Race against Waste and Action at Work - Elizabeth Arnott
• Composting - Organic Centre Leitrim
• Wormeries
• Weeks Synopsis

 

Energy

The environment section has been working closely with the Carlow Kilkenny Energy agency. In partnership, an information leaflet has been produced in relation to renewable energies and smart energy practices in relation to planning your home. The leaflet is now distributed with all planning packs.

Kilkenny County Council arranged programming on KCLR96fm for Energy Awareness. The topics covered by guest speakers included:

• Climate Change,
• What can you do?,
• Local Schools,
• Car Free Day,
• Renewable energy in local communities,
• Anaerobic Digestion and
• Wind Power

 

Grants 2005

Anti Litter Awareness Initiative Grant
7 projects were successful in obtaining grant funding. Co-funding was made available through Kilkenny County Council. The maximum grant allocated per project will be 70% of the overall cost, with the balance being met by way of local contribution.

 

Local Agenda 21 - Environmental Competition for Schools

8 successful projects will receive funding from the 2005 Fund. Projects range from €950 towards a school book exchange website to €1100 for an educational environmental garden in the Mother of Fair Love school. Under the partnership fund, 50% of the award will come from the Department of the Environment and is matched by Kilkenny County Council. The winning projects meet the criteria under Local Agenda 21 and are non commercial.

 

Adopt A Bottle Bank Grant

The following 8 towns and villages have been awarded a Grant of €400 under the "Adopt A Bottle Bank Scheme": Piltown, Knocktopher, Kells, Paulstown, Bennettsbridge, Inistioge, Thomastown and Ballyragget.

 

Casual Trading

9 casual trading areas (26 trading bays) have been designated under bye laws in the following towns and villages in the County: Castlecomer, Thomastown, Graiguenamanagh, Inistioge, Kells, Hugginstown, Glenmore, Kilmanagh & Gowran. Separate bye laws operate for the Kilkenny Borough Council area.

 

Local Authority Management System (LAMS)

LAMS was introduced to the Environment section in 2004 and implemented throughout 2005. It is a digitised management system that provides a comprehensive library of statutory environmental protection functions. The system allows the Section to monitor and manage the large number of statutory functions it has responsibility for under environmental legislation. A number of national co-ordination meetings were attended in 2005.

 

 

Water Quality

The EU Water Framework Directive establishes water management at the level of river basins. All of County Kilkenny lies within the South East River Basin . The South East River Basin District Management Scheme has been set up to establish an Integrated Monitoring & Management System for all waters within the South Eastern River Basin District. Kilkenny County Council, along with other sectoral interests in the south east of Ireland , is part of the management structure for this River Basin. A dynamic programme of management measures will be developed and a River Basin Management Strategy produced.

This Strategy will be continually updated to maintain High Status where it exists and/or achieve Good Status for all water (surface freshwaters, estuarine and coastal waters and groundwater). High Status is indicative of little impact by human activity & Good Status is normally indicative of waters sustaining good ecological biodiversity. Preparation of the SERB Management Plan is being led by Carlow County Council and regular meetings of the management and steering groups take place. Pending finalisation of the Plan, all the major rivers in County Kilkenny are covered by Water Quality Plans together with being subject to the requirements of the Water Pollution Acts.

Work on the project has been ongoing and in 2005 Ireland completed the characterisation of all waters in each RBD. The country is currently taking part in fieldwork trials to compare the quality of its waters against those of other European Member States. The work undertaken so far has set the scene by identifying the key issues that have to be addressed in the next few years. Ireland is already acting on the next steps of implementing the Directive.

Monitoring programmes are being developed to tell us the status of our waters and allow us to measure future improvements in waters resulting from management actions. Detailed studies, focusing on understanding and managing the key pressures or activities that potentially affect Irish waters, are commencing. Advisory councils have been set up to provide a structure for effective public participation.

The Council monitors 16 licences to discharge to waters and 45 licences to discharge to sewers. 10 licences were granted in 2005 and 2 licence reviews completed.

15 of the county's larger industrial developments are IPC (Integrated Pollution Control) licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

River Water Quality Monitoring is shared between the Council's Environment Laboratory and the EPA Regional Laboratory in Butts Green. The Council's laboratory equipment was updated in 2004 and it continues to partake in the EPA calibration scheme. A report by the EPA on River Water Quality in County Kilkenny was commissioned by Kilkenny County Council.

The Groundwater Protection for the County was completed in 2002, in association with the Geological Survey of Ireland. It is being used to assist in decision making on the location, nature and control of developments and activities in order to protect groundwater. These maps are available for inspection, by the public, in the Environment Section , County Hall. They have also become available on-line at www.gsi.ie.

Farm Surveys were carried out and pollution incidents inspected to ensure that the implementation programme in place by Kilkenny County Council to comply with the Phosphorous Regulations and Dangerous Substances Regulations is on target. The implementation programme in both Measures Reports is to ensure the continued improvement of water quality in County Kilkenny .

 

Access to Information on the Environment

3 requests for access to information on the environment was received under the regulations.

 

Control of Dogs

Under the Control of Dogs Acts, 1986 & 1992 all dogs other than those used wholly for official duties by the Gardai, Defence forces or the Custom and Excise Service must be licensed.  Section 2 of the Act makes it an offence for a person to keep a dog unless he/she holds a licence for that dog or a general licence covering any number of dogs at a specified premises.

Section 8 sets the fee at €12.70 per dog and the general licence fee at €253.95 and enables the Minister to increase or reduce the fees or to specify different fees for different classes of dogs.  Individual licences are issued by post offices and a general licence is issued by the G.P.O., O' Connell Street, Dublin. In 2005, 3211 individual and 6 general licences were processed by The Environment Section .

 

Dog Shelter

Construction of the new dog shelter at Paulstown was substantially completed in 2005. The accommodation consists of kennels, confined exercise yards, viewing area, food preparation and storage area, veterinary room, freezer unit, toilets with office accommodation and wash up facilities on the first floor. Car-parking, secure site perimeter fencing and external lighting are also included.

 

 

Veterinary Services

A full time veterinary officer fulfils the service contract between the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and Kilkenny County Council. Duties include the inspection of domestic abattoirs and small meat manufacturing plants, membership of regional Zoonosis Committee etc. As directed by FSAI, the service facilitates FSAI Surveillance Surveys and participation in Foodborne Outbreak Control Teams as appropriate etc. Other duties include fulfilling the Council's obligations under the Diseases of Animals Act 1966, the registration of liquid milk production holdings, disposal of animal by products etc.

 

 

Parks

Amenity Grants, 2005

In 2005 Kilkenny County Council advertised an Amenity Grant Scheme to assist voluntary bodies in the provision of amenity facilities. Preference was given to projects which were community based and which were considered to offer most benefit to the local community.

 

Playgrounds

6 playgrounds were provided by Kilkenny County Council in 2005. These are located in Garringreen, Castlecomer Demesne, Thomastown, Callan, Mooncoin and Mullinavat. The first five were funded from the development contributions scheme and the Mullinavat playground was funded from Village Renewal.

 

 

River Nore Linear Park

A part 8 Planning Process was completed for the River Nore Linear Park in 2005.

 

Nore Valley Walking Route

Work continued on this walking route in partnership with Leader/BNS and the many landowners along the route.

 

Village / Urban Renewal

The 5 main projects for 2005 were

• Footpaths in Kilmoganny.
• Amenity/Play Area in Mullinavat.
• Material and equipment purchase for Linear Park.
• Provision of an amenity area and footpath in Johnswell.
• Provision of a juvenile soccer pitch and works to the estate entrance at Bishop Birch Place.

 

Newpark Marsh

A Management Strategy for Newpark Marsh was procured in 2005 for implementation in 2006.

 

Woodstock Gardens

Year two of the three year restoration project was completed.

 

National Tree Week

This was held in March 2005 and free trees were donated to local community groups to help enhance their areas.

 

Garringreen Town Park

This Park was substantially completed in 2005.