Tidy Towns mulls employing tidy person

A suggestion that Kilcullen Tidy Towns Committee should cease actually doing the physical work of keeping the town tidy and instead pay somebody to do it was described as a 'powerful point' at the recent KCA meeting.

The discussion arose after chairman Kieran Forde noted that only four people had turned up for a recent clean-up of the Valley Park. "It's the same story we've talked about so many times before," he said. "We're just not getting the volunteers out."

Saying that the town is getting bigger now, and there's 'more work to be done', he wondered if the organisation should 'put our efforts into fundraising and pay somebody to do it'.

"The few people who do get out and work will eventually get fed up and drop off," he said.

J J Warren, saying it was a 'powerful point', agreed, and added that the group should 'go after' more businesses for funding, as the same businesses 'gain from a tidy town'. "More people come in and stay and shop when the town looks well," he said.

Noel Clare was concerned that such a move could involve 'major expense'. In the ensuing discussion, it was suggested that somebody could be hired for about €25,000 a year. Kieran Forde suggested that a further €25,000 could be spent on overheads and materials.

The meeting deduced that if every household contributed a euro a week, the concept would be more than viable. J J Warren said there were already a number of organisations going door to door collecting regular payments, and it would be a simple matter to ask one of them to add the collection of a tidy towns sub to their rounds. He also suggested that a finance committee might be selected to prepare a proposal that might be discussed at the next AGM.

— Brian Byrne.