Local communities are praised for their efforts at tackling litter at awards event

CORK County Council held its 22nd Annual Anti-Litter Challenge awards ceremony in County Hall last week.

The Anti-Litter Challenge is a competition where Tidy Towns groups and other community organisations compete to keep their local environment clear of litter. Unlike the Tidy Towns competition, the sole emphasis of this competition is on litter.  

This focus on litter provides an opportunity for all communities to compete on a level playing field. 

Advantages conferred by areas of natural beauty and architectural importance in the Tidy Towns competition are not considered as part of the judging criteria of the Anti-Litter Challenge.

Therefore, communities who feel they may not have a chance in the Tidy Towns competition can still hope for success in the Anti-Litter Challenge. Any community with members willing to walk the roads and pick up litter have a chance of winning.

A total of 24 towns and 84 villages participated in the competition in 2018 with 50 communities represented at the awards night by almost 200 people in attendance.

Cork County Council’s Ted O’Leary of the environment directorate praised the efforts of all the community groups participating in the competition and noted the fine margins that separated the prize-winners from the other participants.

Council chief executive Tim Lucey thanked the Tidy Towns and community groups who took part and highlighted the value of volunteer effort, not only in tackling litter, but also more generally in making a huge contribution to society.

Awards were presented by county mayor Patrick Gerard Murphy, who echoed Mr Lucey’s sentiments on the importance of volunteerism.  

He also praised the levels of cleanliness in the participating towns and villages and promised that Cork County Council would continue to review and improve the competition.