Statistics
Area (hectares) |
477,360 |
Population |
52,944 |
Cavan Town Council
population |
5,000 |
Miles of road |
1,800 |
Cavan is predominately a rural county, with only 16% of the population living in (and within the environs of) towns with a population of 1,500 or more.
It was agreed by the County Manager that the Environment Section of Cavan County Council would take responsibility for implementation of the system for both Cavan County Council and Cavan Town Council. The Senior Executive Officer assigned the Litter Warden and a number of students in summer employment to commence implementation of the system.
Phase 1 (Set-up Phase)
The completion of Phase One was achieved using both summer students and the Litter Wardens. Students also carried out visual surveys throughout the county and then entered the necessary information onto the potential litter generator forms. The students began the surveys on the 24/07/00 and finished on the 04/09/00. It took a total of six weeks to carry out the visual surveys. The total cost of implementing this section of the Litter pollution system to date is estimated to be approximately £5000.
Once all the information was collected, it was entered into the GIS software package provided by the LGCSB. There were 418 Potential Litter Generators identified, a number of illegal dumping sites were also identified. The following information was collated 161 pubs, 74 newsagents, 41 takeaways 28 supermarkets, 36 miscellaneous, 16 service stations, 16 bank ATMs, 9 where groups of people gather, 6 large car parks, 6 betting establishments, 4 derelict sites and buildings, 4 amusement arcades, 4 open air markets, 2 lay-bys, 2 major events including the Ulster Championship in July 2001, 3 secondary schools, 1 mart, 1 theatre, 1 bus station, 1 industrial estate, 1 shopping mall, 1 riverside walks and 1 nature trail. There was altogether 1,700 miles of road surveyed.
After marking the potential litter generators directly onto the maps in June 2001, they were then transferred onto the GIS database by staff in the County Council. No problems were experienced with the implementation of this phase of the system.
Phase 2 (Benchmark Phase)
The Litter Pollution Surveys were located in both hot spots and random locations by students supervised by the litter warden. There were altogether 84 Litter Pollution Surveys carried out. It was commented that the actual carrying out of the surveys created awareness among the local people. No problems were experienced during the Litter Monitoring Process. These results have been submitted to TES Consulting Engineers, the Litter Monitoring Body.