Congratulations to all involved with Millstreet Tidy Towns rise from 314 points last year 2017, to 321 points in 2018, which was announced at the national awards this morning. A Bronze medal and only 18 points behind the national winners Listowel.
Community – Your Planning and Involvement / An Pobal – Pleanáil agus Rannpháirtíocht:
Cuireann an moltóir seo fáilte roimh Millstreet () chuig Comórtas na mBailte Slachtmhara SuperValu 2018 agus chuig Ceiliúradh 60 Bliain an Chomórtais. Thank you for your detailed entry form and supporting material including map with projects indicated. Your committee of 18 has an additional 25 volunteers to assist in various jobs when needed. Having the Men’s Shed building bird boxes and flower planters for your use is wonderful. We see that in addition to state and semi-state agencies you also have support from local businesses and voluntary organisations some of whom have sponsored a wildlife study of the area. Good communication is very important for a Tidy Towns committee’s success in involving the local community and we commend your use of a website, Facebook, local newspapers, local radio, parish newsletter and calling to premises to encourage participation. We read with interest your connections with local schools and wonder if you have thought about setting up a Junior Tidy Town’s group? We agree when you say that participation in the Tidy Town’s competition fosters a sense of pride in a community and encourages volunteerism and we are delighted that you see this benefit in Millstreet. In next year’s application please mark you projects as follows: new (N), maintained (M), and Future Projects (FP) and cross reference this numbering system onto your map, as this is to assist the adjudicators when they visit your town.
Streetscape & Public Places / Sráid-Dreach & Áiteanna Poiblí:
Your main streets having building of varying architectural styles which contribute to the overall beauty of the streetscape. There are many modest one and two storey houses juxtaposed with elaborate three storey properties in the centre of the town which gives it great character. Add to these, the great historic properties and you have Millstreet in a nutshell. What a tremendous range of historic structures you have and your Heritage Trail, which you are developing, will be an excellent way of visiting a lot of these by foot. Amongst the building of interest in your town are the RC St Patrick’s church, the AIB and Bank of Ireland buildings, and the Train Station buildings. We also loved the simplicity of the recently painted shopfronts of P.Corcoran and Tangney. The mural depicting the Mill Race circa 1910 on the gable of the building on Mill View was also admired.
Green Spaces and Landscaping / Spásanna Glasa agus Tírdhreachú:
Your Town Park is well used with its variety of sports pitches, exercise machines and areas to walk and play. We commend Cork Co Co on the new buildouts which contain the Hornbeam trees and planting beds. As your streets are very wide in some instances, these can be easily accommodated and indeed we encourage more of this type of buildouts by the Local Authority as there is a distinct lack of trees within the built-up areas of the town. There are various areas around the towns where there are raised and low stone planting beds and these all looked very well with a variety of plants, flowers and grasses. We were delighted to read that you are concentrating on pollinator friendly herbaceous perennials in your new planting schemes and we look forward to seeing these develop in the coming years. The picnic area near Drishane Castle was noted … we’d probably have used a different colour paint on the rails, but at least they were clean and fresh.
Nature and Biodiversity in your Locality / An Dúlra agus an Bhithéagsúlacht i do cheantar:
The report on the Biodiversity in Millstreet dated March 2016 is extremely thorough. We admired the wildflower area in the Town Park which was full of bees and butterflies when we visited. We also admired the sign on Wildlife in Millstreet Town Park recommending that the visitor to look out for 6 species. Could this be a project for local school children and the TidyTowns committee? Perhaps a poster competition? The Pollinator Park is a great idea and the information panel shows what flowers our pollinators visit and what the individual can do to help our pollinators. We see that this wildlife area has been in your possession since 2009 and we look forward to seeing it being developed even more in the coming years
Sustainability – Doing more with less / Inmharthanacht – Mórán ar an mbeagán:
We look forward to hearing about the Smart Store Food Initiative which you are implementing with the Southern Regional Waste Management, Cork Co Co and Super Valu. Please let us know about this in next year’s application. We commend the local convenience stores for eliminating Non Biodegradable packaging. We recommend that a small sticker be put on the doors of these premises which show that they are promoting this initiative. We commend your involvement in the three Grow It Yourself schemes – the Boys National School, the Respond Group and the Sheltered Housing.
Tidiness and Litter Control / Slachtmhaireacht agus Rialú Bruscair:
Your weekly clean-up Thursdays are working well as there was very little litter around the town. The recycling area was also neat and the bins had been recently emptied. We have seen signs painted on the streets encouraging owners to clean up after their dogs and this is something you might consider in areas where you feel there is a problem rather than putting signs on lamp post s which people tend to ignore. Information and road signage throughout the town was good and the upright posts had been recently painted and looked appealing. Some of the stone signs (e.g. at Mill Street) need to be cleaned and the lettering picked out perhaps in white to make them legible
Residential Streets & Housing Areas / Sráideanna Cónaithe & Ceantair Tithíochta:
In addition to the residential street in the town you also have a number of fine housing estates on the outskirts. Some of the houses in the town had planters outside their doors or had planting boxes on their window cills with colourful flowers and some trailing plants. Most of the housing estates were well maintained with the grass in the open space neatly trimmed and trees and shrubs looked healthy. Some unnecessary herbicide spraying has been carried out at the edges of the green spaces in some of the estates. Using a hoe/ edge trimmer once a year will trim back this grass and leave the grass / kerb junction looking good. We note your involvement with the Dulux Paint Scheme Initiative and commend your work on painting the derelict building in the town.
Approach Roads, Streets & Lanes / Bóithre Isteach, Sráideanna & Lánaí:
The entrance roads with their grass margins lined with mature trees, shrub beds, neatly trimmed hedgerows and colourful flower beds serve to welcome the visitor to your town. The signage on the approach roads proudly display your linkage with Pommerite-le-Vicomte. Within the town itself the new limestone pathways looked good but we were disappointed to see that concrete was being used in the ones being completed at present. We did notice cracks in the limestone paviours and suggest that a better-quality limestone (thicker) paviour be used which will withstand cracking. We loved the interconnecting laneways which exist and these are a testament to the historic nature of the town. There were potholes and edge breakup on quite a few of the smaller roads/streets around the town. Road markings in quite a few areas were badly worn and need to be redone and in some areas they were
non-existent.
Concluding Remarks:
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to your town and walking around the streets, lanes and park areas. You proudly display that you are Tidy Towns Bronze Medal Winners in the years 2100, 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017. You have a very interesting town and with the improvement made, and those at the planning stages, we anticipate an even better Millstreet in the coming years and we look forward to a revisit. As stated above we look forward to you Heritage Plan. Thank you for entering the SuperValu Tidy Towns 2018 competition.
Links:
The above report on available from TidyTowns.ie
The nation summary report from TidyTowns.ie
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CATEGORY A
Coolagown 334
Kiskeam 323
Sallybrook 304
Berrings 299
Knockraha 285
CATEGORY B
Castletownroche 327
Kilworth 322
Castlelyons – Bridesbridge 320
Kildorrery 319
Banteer 311
Milford 308
Boherbue 279
Conna 257
Newtownshandrum 254
Dromahane 249
Newtwopothouse 215
CATEGORY C
Millstreet 321
Newmarket 288
Glanworth 270
Kanturk 269
CATEGORY D
Mitchelstown 295
Charleville 279
CATEGORY E
Fermoy 304
CATEGORY F
Mallow 293
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Well done to all in Millstreet Tidy Towns! Another outstanding achievement of a Bronze Medal and points increase on last year.Conhghairdeachas libh go léir! Keep up the great work! #tidytowns18 https://t.co/Vl0ODXg3uG
— Millstreet Community School (@MillstreetCS) September 24, 2018
Bronze medals for Rathbarry, Eyeries, Lislevane, Castletownroche, Innsihannon, Ballydehob, Timoleague, Skibbereen, Millstreet and Bandon – well done #tidytowns18 pic.twitter.com/ukiPHQ0p8j
— Cork County Council (@Corkcoco) September 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/johnpauloshea1/status/1044330121346392064
