Tidy Towns 2002

"Caring for our environment"

Centre : DONERAILE County : Category : B

Results Date of Adjudication : 25-06-2002

Maximum Mark Awarded Mark Awarded Mark 2002 2001

Overall Developmental Approach 50 30 32

The Built Environment 40 25 27

Landscaping 40 28 28

Wildlife and Natural Amenities 30 24 24

Litter Control 40 19 20

Tidiness 20 13 15

Residential Areas 30 23 23

Roads, Streets and Back Areas 40 23 24

General Impression 10 5 6

TOTAL MARK 300 190 199 Doneraile,

OVERALL DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

Thank you for your map, which was very useful on adjudication day. The Committee should set about formulating a 3-5 year rolling plan. This could be a brief document of no more than 5 pages. This would help give the Committee a focus on set targets. Keep up your liason with the local schools, FÀS, the County Council and Ballyhoura Development Association. The Committee should also consider ways of promoting the use of the in place name signs, etc.

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

The main public buildings continue to maintain their high standards of appearance namely the Catholic Church with its beautiful rose plants, the Church of Ireland with its beautiful grounds, the Nagle Rice Secondary School and the Primary schools. The office style building opposite the Christian Schools building would need attention. The O’Donnabhain Pub continues to look well. Creagh House is a fine building but its paintwork would need attention. Care should be taken to clean weeds out of water drains/gutters on the roof of buildings. The Committee should encourage the retention of original traditional shop fronts where possible. Plastic signage should be replaced with more traditional signage also.

LANDSCAPING

The planting on the Mallow approach continues to look well. The foreground areas of the Churches and Schools are an addition to these areas. Doneraile Golf Club looks very well also, the grass ‘triangle’ near hear would need to be cut back. The Doneraile Park area is a wonderful local amenity and gives an extra dimension to the village. The trees on the streetscape in Main Street give an important softening effect to this urban setting. The flower tubs and baskets, where present, gave a nice splash of colour. The Committee should continue to plant shrubs and trees, which give a year round effect.

WILDLIFE AND NATURAL AMENITIES

Doneraile has a lot of natural advantages in this category and should capitalise on them. The Committee needs to identify the habitats in the area and determine the appropriate actions to conserve and enhance them. The river is a fine amenity and a nameplate should be put on the bridge for it. Doneraile Park looks very well and has very nice amenities, like a play area and picnic tables. Perhaps more information could be made available on the flora and fauna in the park etc. The Committee could consult the Tidy Towns Handbook ‘ Action s 6 – wildlife’. This may prove a useful guide. The local schools may like to get involved in this category.

LITTER CONTROL Litter control is required in certain areas of the village. This is a problem for many villages. One area that needed attention was on the Main Street, where a considerable amount of litter was in evidence on the day of adjudication. Other areas that were problematic were on the approach and inside the first gate to the council property near the bridge. Keep an eye to repairing damaged litterbins also.

TIDINESS

Weed growth appears to be well controlled. The area outside the factory area near the Church of Ireland would need to be tidied and pallets, etc. should be removed. The village should also seek to get recycling facilities for the area as this would help contribute to environmental awareness.

RESIDENTIAL

Private housing is of very good standard overall. More houses should consider using floral decoration. A colour co-ordination plan could be considered for houses on the main urban area. This would help give the village a more striking appearance. Good work is being done at Canon Sheahan Place and at Oliver Plunkett Place. The housing estate on the Mallow approach looks very well also.

ROADS STREETS AND BACK AREAS

The village Welcome signs give a very good first impression and give an insight into the heritage of the area. The old walls are a strong feature of the village and steps should be taken to preserve these by keeping them free of weed growth. There are traffic signs requiring attention on the Charleville/Michelstown road, Convent road and Castletown road approach (cleaning, repainting or straightening). The old cobbled drains, which have been cleaned near the Church of Ireland, look very well and this work should be continued. The Heritage finger post signs are a great asset and should be complemented by street name plaques. The red hanging basket supports would need repainting. Redundant traffic sign poles should be removed, such as the poles near the bridge.

GENERAL IMPRESSION

Doneraile is a historic place with beautiful amenities adjacent to the village. A co-ordinated approach would certainly yield dividends for the village. The village would definitely benefit from the drafting of an action plan, which could be used to enlist the help of other agencies.