W2C-016 Roscommon Herald-0.txt
Environment Award For Council

Roscommon County Council this week picked up its second major award in two years from the Department of Environment's Local Authority Environment Awards scheme.

Two years ago, it won the overall award and this year was the winning authority in the County Council category. It received a cheque for £ 5,000 which will be used to upgrade and enhance the amenity area at Dalton Terrace, Ballaghaderreen.

This year's win, said the Minister for Environmental Protection John Browne, was evidence of the "consistently high quality" of the council's work.

In particular, he added, it had established a Farming Community Programme in association with the IFA which encouraged farmers to take care when disposing of waste plastic arising from round-baled silage.

In addition, a free paint scheme was available for the Tidy Towns committees and a freephone service was provided during Clean-Up Roscommon Week. This was linked to a recycling programme which included a cardboard recycling scheme as well as glass and can recycling schemes.

Overall, the judges considered that the submission was particularly comprehensive. They were also impressed by the Council's decision to base their environmental programme on the results of a questionnaire completed by local community groups.

The overall winner for 1994 was Drogheda Corporation which also won the 15,000 plus urban authorities category.
