Big Bellies demanded for all Laois towns
More than a decade after Portlaoise got them many towns still waiting which was called 'discrimination'
Portlaoise should not be alone in having the Big Belly solar-powered bins insist Laois councillors who want County Hall to roll them out around the county as promised.
The appeal for better bins, which cost thousands of euros each, was made for Rathdowney and other towns when councillors met officials recently in the council’s Portlaoise HQ where the local authority was accused of 'discrimination' over the issue.
Cllr John King, Fine Gael, tabled a motion calling on Laois County Council to install a big belly solar bin in the square Rathdowney as the area is “extra busy during the summer season”.
The council installed its first bins in Portlaoise over a decade ago and there are at now least 50 big bellies in the county town. Cllr King wants more installed around Laois. He also said the bins have a much greater capacity than regular bins and are very safe.
“They have them in Portlaoise and I don’t see why our smaller towns are not entitled to them,” he said.
He added: “We have to give so much to get so little in our small towns - it is unfair”.
Cllr Ollie Clooney, independent, was frustrated by the absence of such bins in smaller communities.
“It’s discrimination. If you’re small you get nothing,” he said.
Cllr James Kelly, independent, backed the call and asked how much they cost. He said they should be paid for out of a council environment fund. He estimated that one bin could cost €10,000.
James Dowling, Senior Executive Engineer in the council’s Roads section, replied initially in writing that the Council would meet Councillor King on site to discuss the location of big belly bin. He was unable to give a price when the issue was raised at the July meeting of the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District.
Cllr Cooney sought solar bins for Durrow in 2019. At the time he was told by a council engineer that the cost of one compactor bin would run into thousands of euros.
Laois County Council’s Acting CEO Simon Walton told the Leinster Express / Laois Live in June 2023 that the council have operated solar-powered compactor street bins for over a decade in Portlaoise where there are now 50 such bins.
He said at the time that several bins had been given facelifts with promotional information about Portlaoise.
The Council’s 2018-20 Laois Litter Management pledged to roll out the bins around Laois on a phased basis. The Council’s 2012 annual report says it planned to roll out 29 bins in Laois in 2023.