Trim eyes bigger prize in national TT contest

Trim Tidy Towns Committee was happy with its results in this year's competition, according to PRO Brian Heffernan. "We retained our bronze medal in our category, coming second to Moynalty in the county awards, and winning the regional award in the 'Notice Nature' competition. As the Iarnrod Eireann advertisement goes, 'We are getting there', but we have much work to do," Mr Heffernan said. Competition entrants are examined in 10 different categories and marked out of 50 in six categories - overall development approach, the built environment, landscaping, wildlife and natural amenities, litter control, road, streets and back areas; marked out of 40 in residential areas; marked out of 30 in tidiness; marked out of 20 in waste minimisation; and finally marked out of 10 in general impression. "Westport are the leaders in Trim's category, 20 marks ahead of Trim, so it's important to compare ourselves against them and see where we are losing marks," Mr Heffernan said. "To start with the positive, we are ahead of Westport in two and equal to them in another two of the 10 categories." These are the built environment, landscaping, wildlife and natural amenities and general impression. "In two other categories, we are only behind them by one mark, in tidiness and residential areas. So we are ahead of Westport in six out of the 10 categories by three marks. It's the remaining four categories that has Trim behind. Westport is three marks ahead of Trim in waste minimisation, four ahead in overall development approach, six ahead in litter control and a massive 10 ahead in roads, streets and back areas. These are the areas we'll be concentrating on next year and looking to gain ground in." Stephen Nally and SuperValu Trim will help Trim Tidy Towns attempt to increase marks in the waste minimisation category. Mr Nally and SuperValu have secured the retention of the can and bottle recycle/crusher machine in Scoil Mhuire Secondary School. Central government funding for this machine was being pulled until SuperValu agreed to part-finance the machine with matching funding from the environment section of Meath County Council. This will leave Scoil Mhuire as one of the few schools with this facility in Ireland. St Mary's Primary School also uses this facility, with the possibility of Boyne Community School and Youthreach following suit. This facility encourages the schools and pupils to recycle through incentives, and points are allocated for a certain amount of recycled cans, with these points convertible into sports equipment for the school. In September, Scoil Mhuire received the 2009 National Winners Award from An Taisce and Alupro Ireland for the An Taisce Spring Clean Can Collection. This award is recognition for all the work being done at Scoil Mhuire, and will also help with increasing Trim's score in the Tidy Towns Competition. Trim Tidy Towns have also applied for funding to install some community composters.