The highlight of the Tidy Towns year is the announcement of the national competition results at an event in Dublin to which representatives of medal-winning towns are invited. This newsletter reflects on the work involved in each competition category during the judging year that ran from June 2022 to May 2023, when Skibbereen won its first GOLD medal in the competition.
Community – Your Planning and Involvement – 52/80 marks – +2 from 2022
People can be forgiven for thinking that the competition adjudicator just lands in the town or village being judged for the competition and walks around with a clipboard making notes. Well, we don’t know about the clipboard but presumably they have some means of recording their notes. The legwork (no pun intended) is done beforehand when each committee prepares and submits an entry for the competition that enables the adjudicator to start the judging process, presumably from the comfort of a desk. The entry for Skibbereen takes on average 25 hours to prepare each year and requires collation of new and maintenance projects in each category, collecting photographs where appropriate and making a concise note for each project to keep the overall size of the submission as manageable as possible. Then there’s a map and legend to create and a rolling 3-year plan. The effort pays off when the adjudicator comments on the entry and awards an extra mark or two over the previous year – ‘every little counts’ as the saying (or is it an advert) goes!
Most committee members also volunteer weekly on the ground, and their work is supplemented by volunteers from other groups from sports, education and the community sector along with individuals who, in their own time, see work that needs to be done and they go ahead quietly and just do it. You all know who you are and we thank you for what you do for Skibbereen.
Streetscape & Public Places – 50/80 marks – +2 from 2022
The handbook provides an idea of what the adjudicator looks for in this category:
Source: Tidy Towns Handbook – Streetscape and Public Spaces
Adjudication day was a wet Saturday after the June bank holiday weekend. For some reason we had not considered a Saturday and next year we will certainly add the wonderful Skibbereen Farmer’s Market to our entry for 2024, giving the adjudicator the opportunity to get away from vehicular traffic for a short while. Positive comments were forthcoming on the completed public realm works at the Town Hall and the Square but we really need a sign denoting the location, along with a sign for the Bridge (aka Levis’ Quay or Olympic Square) area requested following the 2022 report. Adding to the list to follow up with the West Cork Municipal District of Cork County Council in Clonakilty.
Green Spaces and Landscaping – 48/80 marks – +2 from 2022
Communities should demonstrate the following: The planning, design and management of green spaces. The selection and appropriate siting of trees and their ongoing maintenance, including formative pruning, watering and attention to the stakes and ties. Presentation of landscaping of all entrances to your town/village/locality in consultation with your local authority, where appropriate. The use of suitable plants for hedges and shrubs for year round effect is important as is the siting of seasonal planting of pollinator friendly schemes where you wish to highlight important areas. The use of plant containers can provide impact where it is not possible to plant directly into the ground. To reduce maintenance tasks limit the use of containers. To demonstrate the year round impact of the landscape works in your community, you are encouraged to provide dated photographs of, for example, daffodil schemes which are not evident in summertime.
Source: Tidy Towns Handbook – Green Spaces and Landscaping
The O’Donovan Rossa Memorial Park has been a key project for us in this category in recent years and it is helpful to receive comments from the adjudicator for future focus. The playground at Cork Road is another location central to the Pollinator Plan for the town and their comments are duly noted. Across the town the adjudicator commented on the lack of container planting on the day and we really need to get our ducks lined up for the window when the frost risk has passed and the planters installed. Together with our local team at Cork County Council we are conscious of the need for an audited and integrated plan for container planting through the town as noted in the extract below. Planting for pollinators, watering needs during summers that are getting drier, are all considerations to be factored in for now and in the future.
Olympic Square is one that could be a vibrant and pleasant space in the centre of the town. There were an awful lot of planters here, seemingly placed at random amongst the seating. It is suggested that this area could be nicely designed with fewer planters strategically placed and planted up with perennial pollinator friendly plants. In general throughout the town there were a variety of different planters, wooden and plastic, of various shapes and sizes. This does not create a coherent streetscape which is a shame. Perhaps an overall audit of planters could enable the relocation of some planters to provide an aesthetically pleasing layout for the benefit of the local community and visitors.
Adjudicator report, 2023
Nature and Biodiversity in your Locality – 44/55 marks – +2 from 2022
There is opportunity for further progression in this category with the Pollinator Plan in collaboration with Cork County Council. Currently in draft format, we would like to share it widely and gain input from the many groups interested in biodiversity in the area, including the Ilen River Nature Matters group. Pollinator corridors might be considered and already the local council team have identified areas along approach roads to Skibbereen that could be managed for wildlife.
Sustainability – Doing more with less – 27/55 marks – +2 from 2022
In recent years we have done well in this category and another two marks ths year reflects the collaborative effort in the key campaign known as ‘Skibbereen taking on Food Waste’. Each year we attempt to work on a new project that will help raise awareness of the need to ‘do more with less’ in the current environment and across all generations. Issue 2 of the ‘Young Chefs Recipe Booklet’ was recently launched online and will be included in the 2024 competition entry. If anyone is aware of other sustainability-focused initiatives please do let us know.
Tidiness and Litter Control – 65/90 marks – +2 from 2022
Skibbereen entered the national competition for the first time in 1961 and has a long tradition over the decades of striving to improve the town above and beyond litter control. The updated handbook to guide Tidy Towns committees across the country states the following:
Tidiness: General lack of clutter, blocked footpaths, redundant poles, unsightly overhead electric cables, absence of graffiti and fly-posting, and evidence of control of weed growth at kerbs. Absence of unsightly and or inappropriate advertising, such as that on gables of buildings and mass produced advertising banners in shop fronts.
Litter: The Adjudicator will assess the absence of litter and dumping, evidence of litter control strategy, including regular litter patrols, segregation of collected litter during clean-ups and promotion of anti-litter awareness throughout the community
Source: Tidy Towns Handbook – Tidiness and Litter Control
The adjudicator noted that ‘there was a fair level of tidiness in the town on adjudication day with a few exceptions’. We are indebted to Martin and Teddy who are on duty early every day and to whom we are very grateful for the work that they do. The adjudicator also commented on the bags of rubbish sitting on pavements. We are aware that there are residents in the town, likely a small number, who for whatever reason do not have a domestic waste facility or use the local Bring Centre for their household waste. This domestic rubbish is usually left in medium-sized bags alongside a street litter bin, emptied on a daily basis and the rubbish bag collected at the same time. It is little consolation that such bags might otherwise end up in hedgerows and ditches where the job of cleaning up is much greater. Another on-going issue is the matter of ‘seemingly abandoned shopping trollies’ (adjudicator’s term) despite the efforts of the supermarket providers to retrieve them in a timely manner. With a maxmum of 90 marks it is clear that this category is the one where everyone can make a difference and contribute to a higher mark. Concepts such as ‘leave no trace’, ‘bag it, bin it’ and others are developed to encourage us to keep our communities litter free and generally tidy.
Residential Streets & Housing Areas – 37/55 marks – +2 from 2022
There is huge opportunity in this category for everyone who lives in a residential estate or street. Over the years we have had some success engaging Area Ambassadors for each of the residential estates across the town and note the wonderful work done by others independently for example The Orchard on Townshend Street. We are hugely disappointed that in 2023 we have been unable to resource an annual competition for ‘Best Kept Residential Area’ or similar. If anyone is interested in leading and coordinating such an initiative please do get in touch. We have wonderful neighbours in Rosscarbery Tidy Towns (Ireland’s Tidiest Village 2022) who adjudicated our floral display awards in 2019 and we’re sure they would be happy to help us out again.
Approach Roads, Streets & Lanes – 43/55 marks – +1 from 2022
A single mark in this category was considered an achievement since the three approach road roundabouts had been adopted in earlier years. The laneways offered an opportunity to shine a light and we were delighted to collaborate with Skibbereen Arts Festival, Skibbereen & District Historical Society and Skibbereen Heritage Centre on a unique multi-year project celebrating the history of our laneways and their names. Our 2024 entry will feature the wonderful mural painted in Coppinger’s Lane during this year’s Arts Festival.
The adjudicator concluded with the following remarks: ‘The work of Skibbereen Tidy Towns is clearly an integral pillar of the community and you are to be commended for your dedication and work. It seems fitting that you have chosen to dedicate your 2023 entry to the late Bev Cotton who had a vision for a sustainable town and who laid the foundations for many of your ongoing projects. Keep up the good work and best wishes for this and future competitions.‘
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our supporters who have helped us continue our work in what has been another challenging year. Whether you donated time, skills or money, whether individual, charitable, community, corporate or public service, however you helped, we very much appreciate it all.
On behalf of the committee of Skibbereen Tidy Towns, may we wish you a peaceful and safe Christmas, and a very happy New Year for 2024. Guímid Nollaig shíochánta agus shábháilte oraibh, agus Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise do 2024.
Skibbereen Tidy Towns 