Tidy Towns Competition 2019

Adjudication Report

Centre: Ardattin - Ard Aitinn Ref: 31

County: Carlow Mark: 310

Category: B Date(s): 26/06/2019

Maximum Mark Mark Mark Awarded 2018 Awarded 2019

Community – Your Planning and Involvement 60 42 42 Streetscape & Public Places 60 41 42 Green Spaces and Landscaping 60 42 43 Nature and Biodiversity in your Locality 50 27 29 Sustainability – Doing more with less 50 13 14 Tidiness and Litter Control 90 65 66 Residential Streets & Housing Areas 50 34 34 Approach Roads, Streets & Lanes 50 40 40 TOTAL MARK 470 304 310

Community – Your Planning and Involvement / An Pobal - Pleanáil agus Rannpháirtíocht: Cuireann an moltóir seo fáilte roimh Ard Aitinn chuig Comórtas na mBailte Slachtmhara SuperValu 2019. We are delighted to welcome Ardattin Tidy Village Committee to the 2019 Supervalu Tidy Towns competition. We note that this is the 3rd year of involvement, since Tidy Towns was relaunched in the village. Your entry form is clearly laid out and the photographs further assisted our adjudication. The map is good but a little difficult to follow. Could you provide an A3 version of this map, which might make locations clearer? Your dedicated committee is supported by the wider community and by outside agencies such as Carlow County Council. You use various methods to communicate your message including your active Facebook page. Your strong links with your primary school are crucial for the longer terms success of Tidy Towns in Ardattin. Thank you also for your 3-Year Plan. Your approach in making Tidy Towns a cross-community effort is applauded. Keep up the good work.

Streetscape & Public Places / Sráid-Dreach & Áiteanna Poiblí: There is an air of pride along the Tullow Road. The school is fresh and inviting with lovely grounds including vegetable plots. The church grounds are nicely maintained though there was a plastic bottle and a clear plastic bag on the ground for some reason. We would like to see a splash of colour (red?) at the main entrance instead of the conifers, which don’t compliment the building, in this adjudicator’s opinion. All is in neat order at the Community Hall – we note that this former church is now a listed building. Well done for securing funding for its restoration – we positively note that you sought advice from a architect. Your ‘Memories of Ardattin’ community day sounds like a great day for the whole community and led to you gathering over 500 photos, some of which will assist the above renovation work. We look forward to hearing of further progress next time. The Community (Athletics) Field with its new fencing, is an impressive community amenity. The Coach House is nicely maintained and serves to remind us of another era in Ardattin. The green colour and simple planting scheme at the village pump, highlights the feature and stone walls appropriately. The notice board is in good order.

Green Spaces and Landscaping / Spásanna Glasa agus Tírdhreachú: Well done for carrying out a village botanical survey. We are impressed that you are striving for a quality landscape with the ‘right plant in the right place’. You have carried out a lot of work in your park in recent times. Hopefully the alder plants will succeed. The wildflower bed in the corner was noted. We are personally not a fan of the non-native laurel but it does its job here in framing the park. We couldn’t find the allotments – it is always great to hear about communities growing their own. A lovely mix of perennial planting was noted along the Tullow Road – this provides year-round colour and interest. The bed at the front of the community centre caught the eye. Your work in the vicinity of the ball alley is also noted. In the longer term, we would discourage placing planted containers on grass areas. They should be preserved for areas of hard landscaping where permanent planting isn’t an option. For instance, out on the Tullow Road beyond the church, we felt they were unnecessary as there is a lovely line of trees here. The bed across the way requires just a little weeding. The corner bed opposite the school is beautifully maintained. The concrete flower pots opposite the Coach House work well. We almost missed the discreetly located shrine – this is nicely maintained behind a fresh blue gate. There is scope to fill in bare parts of the flower bed here. We feel the planting bedside the community field entrance is a little too busy due to two different style containers beside an existing flower bed instance, out on the Tullow Road beyond the church, we felt they were unnecessary as there is a lovely line of trees here. The bed across the way requires just a little weeding. The corner bed opposite the school is beautifully maintained. The concrete flower pots opposite the Coach House work well. We almost missed the discreetly located shrine – this is nicely maintained behind a fresh blue gate. There is scope to fill in bare parts of the flower bed here. We feel the planting bedside the community field entrance is a little too busy due to two different style containers beside an existing flower bed

Nature and Biodiversity in your Locality / An Dúlra agus an Bhithéagsúlacht i do cheantar: You are incorporating this category into all of your projects – this is sustainability in the truest sense. You are moving your focus away from bedding plants to pollinator-friendly perennials. The results are visually delightful. Well done to the students who participated in the ‘Bees Needs’ project – a fantastic way to learn about the importance of bees to our lives and how we can help them to better survive. We saw the new Bee Hotel on our walk around Ellen Park. Well done to members who took part in the ‘Planting with Bees & other pollinators in mind’ workshop. You are already implementing some of the simple actions from our National Pollinator Plan, such as later mowing, reduced mowing of roadside verges. Promoting these messages to the wider community increases the effectiveness of your campaign – well done to all involved and please continue with this approach.

Sustainability – Doing more with less / Inmharthanacht - Mórán ar an mbeagán: We welcome the fact that you are striving to focus on your weaker categories including this one. This is another category that you can keep in mind when working on all Tidy Towns projects (e.g. any environmentally-efficient measures implemented under the renovation of Community Hall). Well done to the members who took part in the ‘Master Composter’ course with Zero Waste Ireland. We look forward to seeing the new compost area next time. Is the fruit and vegetable garden (for community use) in the school grounds? Please clarify next time. Teaching the younger generation about growing their own local and healthy produce bodes well for the future. It also reduces air miles, packaging, water (if you use your rainwater) and your own home-made compost. We note your measures to conserve water use – seeking drought tolerant plants, installing a water butt (is there scope to install another one or two?) and mulching of beds. You now have the awareness – continue to expand these to all areas of your work. We look forward to seeing the new recycling banks when we visit next time.

Tidiness and Litter Control / Slachtmhaireacht agus Rialú Bruscair: We are delighted to hear that Arattin registered with National Spring Clean! It’s just another litter pick but it tends to grab people’s attention and get non-active people to come out and lend a hand. The village was very clean apart from the minor littering at the church, mentioned above. Well done to all involved. The village presents quite a tidy appearance. The Ardlattin sign on the Tullow road seems very low down and almost hidden behind two other road signs. It would be nice to see that sign further out the approach road. Perhaps the bench outside the Coach House could receive treatment soon? The old election poster at the flower bed opposite the school should be removed unless it is being repurposed.

Residential Streets & Housing Areas / Sráideanna Cónaithe & Ceantair Tithíochta: At Beechwood Drive, residents were observed cutting the grass on the green – great to see. The entrance to this estate is nicely planted with trees and roses. The newly cleaned name signs look well. You show strong engagement with your residents and this is paying dividends. On the whole, homes were nicely presented and enhance the overall village appearance. Well done to all the residents of Ardattin and keep up the good work.

Approach Roads, Streets & Lanes / Bóithre Isteach, Sráideanna & Lánaí: Road surfaces are good and the speed ramps are effective in slowing traffic down. Along the main (Clonegal) road- perhaps just cut the edge of the grass verge by a mower width to provide a sense of arrival in the village. The new overflow car park area beside the park was noted. Before reading your entry, we thought it was work in progress for a playground or something similar. It looks somewhat unfinished so perhaps you could think about the best way to improve its appearance in the longer term. The car park itself is in very good order, enhanced by attractive roadside planting. Stone walls along this road enhance the overall impression. You appreciate your natural hedgerows and native roadside plants. They further improve the overall impression. We look forward to seeing your new ‘welcome’ signs next time – well done for securing funding for those.

Concluding Remarks: It is heartening to hear that participation in Tidy Towns has improved your local environment and brought people in the community together. You have a lovely village that you are rightly proud of. Well done Ardattin Tidy Village and keep up the good work.