Rodents and rubbish health hazard at Longford town centre car park
Longford County Council will clean up the refuse at the rear of a town centre apartment block and “charge those responsible”.
The problem of the build up of waste at the rear of Weavers Hall was raised at local authority level for the second time in two weeks at the Longford Municipal District meeting.
Cllr Seamus Buler highlighted the issue telling members that on the morning of the MD meeting he was accosted about the condition of the car park: “There is a massive pile of rubbish,” he explained.
“It's serious, it is infested by rodents. It really needs to be dealt with as an emergency,” Cllr Butler said.
MD Cathaoirleach, Martin Monaghan, added his voice saying the build up of refuse in the town centre car park was a genuine health hazard: “We have three food businesses operating close to it. It's only a matter of time before it presents a real problem for them. We can't wait for the Management Companies to take action.”
He urged the executive to take action: “There are people who won't park in that car park because of the fear of encountering rodents,” Cllr Monaghan said.
Last December, Cllr Gerry Warnock said the local authority must “go to war” on the management companies in charge of the property for failing to keep it in good condition.
At the January County Council meeting he brought the issue to the attention of the Executive again.
“We have particular problems with apartments and the upkeep of apartments,” said Cllr Warnock, “the legal obligation is on Management Companies to keep their house in order. That includes appropriate places for their refuse.”
John Brannigan, the Director of Services with Responsibility for Housing, Planning, Regeneration and Capital Projects told the elected representatives that the issue was on the local authority's radar: “I am aware that the environmental section has issued notices in relation to littering in the area. It has been going on for a number of weeks.
“We have been moving on it since mid December when the matter was first raised. The environmental section will be following up on it again,” he told the councillors.
Clarifying the action Mr Brannigan said: “It's probably getting to the stage where we need to get rid of it [the rubbish] and charge those responsible, that's how we will follow through on it.”