Locals appreciate Tidy Towns work

Appreciation from local people for the work of Kilcullen Tidy Towns was noted at the latest meeting of Kilcullen Community Action, writes Brian Byrne.

In a discussion on the adjudication report on Kilcullen from the National Tidy Towns organisation, a number of members reported how they'd had positive reactions through the year, particularly about the Convent Wall project which had been brought to completion during the year.

The tone at the meeting generally reflected disappointment at the failure of the adjudicator to give extra marks for the project, even though it had been highly commended in the body of the report.

The Tidy Towns group had concentrated on the project as part of the Built Environment element, with what KCA chair Esther Kiely noted was 'huge work and huge expense'.

JJ Warren commented that every year the group presented a plan for the coming period, and every year it was noted how Kilcullen had come through on its plans. And yet no points recognition was given.

"It certainly doesn't encourage other people in the community to get involved in Tidy Towns," he added. "People want to be with winners, and it doesn't seem to matter what we do, we're not winning."

Esther Kiely repeated that there was very positive feelings locally about the work of the group, 'so we do it for ourselves anyhow'.

Noel Clare was commended for the amount of work he has put into the whole Tidy Towns project over many years, and for the quality of the written documents he has produced as part of Kilcullen's entry to the competition.