Tidy Towns 1999 Report

"Caring for our environment"

Centre:       CASTLEBAR
County:       MAYO
Category:     E

OVERALL DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH
Castlebar is welcome to the 1999 Tidy Towns Competition. Thank you for the very detailed submission with your application. Castlebar is expanding rapidly, new housing developments were noted at several locations around the town. It would appear that amenity developments are keeping pace with new residential developments. The focus on the town centre should not be lost in the redevelopment of other areas. Well done on your success in achieving sponsorship.

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
The new Garda station looks especially well. The centre of the town looks splendid with its wirescape-free streets, attractive lampstands and well designed and neatly presented car parking bays. The majority of buildings are presented to the highest standard and many retain their traditional features. There are many nomination for shopfront awards.

LANDSCAPING
Landscaping around the town and particularly along the relief roads is quite magnificent as it is now maturing and looks well in and of itself and helps to screen backland areas. Are the steeped banks inside the nameplate on the Newport road to be landscaped? Flower displays look well but are less important than permanent planting.

WILDLIFE AND NATURAL AMENITIES
The Mall is a wonderful amenity facility for the town. The cemetery is well presented. Well done on the many activities under this heading. These enhance the amenity value of Castlebar significantly. We look forward to continued developments.

LITTER CONTROL
Litter control was to a mixed standard around the town. Litter control was quite good on the outer parts of the town, not quite good enough in the main thoroughfares of the town and the town centre and quite poor in the Castlebar river. The latter consisted mainly of beer cans and a black plastic sack. however the situation at Dunnes Stores has improved since last year. Other littered areas included the car park at Lannagh Lake. This was due to a litter bin which was overflowing and a number of bagfulls of litter being left beside it. The roadside near Chadwicks was also quite littered as was the relief road between the Station road roundabout and the Moneen road roundabout. a number of laneways off Market Street were also quite littered, especially the one leading down to the FAS offices.

TIDINESS
The industrial estate when viewed from the Moneen road looks very untidy and one or two buildings could be greatly improved, in particular the BNE Printing building. Some tree planting inside their perimeter wall would soften the visual impact of this building. A rubble-filled site behind the shopping area on the lower Westport road is unsightly also. No doubt this has been earmarked for development. Be vigilant regarding weed growth on the hard surface of the roundabout at the Station road. It would be a pity to spoil an otherwise excellent feature here. The area immediately around the nameplates on both the Newport and the Westport road could have been more neatly trimmed. One or two derelict buildings were also noted. No doubt there is awareness of theses and steps will be taken in due course. If there is likely to be a long time delay, then perhaps some painting or cleaning could be undertaken as an interim measure.

RESIDENTIAL AREAS
There are no serious problems under this heading and as noted above, a number of new developments are in the course of construction. No doubt these will be finished to a high standard also. It is important to ensure that roadside boundary walls to private properties are presented to a high standard, i.e. kept cleaned, painted, whitewashed as appropriate and that side areas and back areas which can be viewed from the public road should likewise be well presented. A good overall presentation under this heading.

ROADS, STREETS AND BACK AREAS
A lot of work has been planned for castlebar under this heading, most of which will be completed for Tidy Towns 2000. Work in progress has been noted and indeed work achieved to date acknowledged.

GENERAL IMPRESSION
Castlebar is an attractive town with a good stock of buildings, nice streetscapes, (some streets with a gentle rise and fall), no overhead service cables, attractive street furniture, ie lampstandards, nice green areas and amenity area, good wildlife awareness and the town is growing rapidly. In the view of this adjudicator the town needs a greater pedestrian focus and some of the on-street car parking should be relocated to an off-street car park. The public art is an attractive feature of Castlebar.

SECOND ADJUDICATION (04/08/99)
The busy town of Castlebar looked well on adjudication day. The abundance of advertising hoardings/signs on the Westport approach and by the railway station gave these areas a rather cluttered appearance. This approach was quite overgrown particularly by the town nameplate sign. Litter was also evident on this approach as indeed it was throughout the town - to the Mall, along the main streets, along the ring road and in particular outside the boundary wall to the hospital. The road surface to the car park at Lannagh Lake was quite potholed and the surrounding wall which was broken in places created a bad impression. The attractive flower filled tubs and landscaping to the Catholic Church were greatly admired. Buildings along the main streets of the town generally looked fine. However, plastic projecting signs and curved canopies should be discouraged and replaced with more traditional timber signage and fabric awnings. One or two buildings looked quite run down and neglected. The Mall is an attractive landscaped space with its mature overhanging chestnut trees. It is beautifully maintained. Daly's Hotel appeared quite flaky and the Courthouse is also in need of some attention. Directional signs and the nameplate of the Mall itself appeared quite grubby.

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