A Letterkenny councillor has called for a special request to be made to the judges in the Tidy Towns to delay their visit until after the 2017 Joule Donegal International Rally.
Cllr Michael McBride said that adjudication of many towns in the Letterkenny municipal district often takes place during the event and he called for a big sweep-up of Tidy Towns entryways beforehand.
Cllr McBride’s motion for the sweep of town streets was upheld at the Letterkenny Municipal District Council in Milford on Tuesday, June 13th. As a result, Ramelton, Kilmacrenan, Milford, Rathmullan, Kerrykeel, Downings and Carrigart are all set to be swept up this weekend as the 2017 Joule Donegal International Rally takes place.
Cllr McBride said: “There is usually always adjudication around the rally, and we could be writing to the Tidy Towns to ask the adjudication time to put it forward a week or back a week.
“I think, with the influx of people to the towns around the time of the Rally and more people on our roads is not fair that the adjudication takes place.
“If was the week before of the week after would be fairer,” he said.
Assessment of participating towns in the Tidy Towns programme is carried out by an independent panel of adjudicators and takes place each summer. This assessment, however, is conducted in secret and on unspecified dates.
Fergal Doherty, Area Engineer, pointed out at the council meeting that adjudication dates cannot be set.
Cllr Ian McGarvey added that there are national times set for the visit of Tidy Towns judges. He seconded the motion for the towns to have their streets swept.