There was a number of high scores throughout Westmeath in this year’s Tidy Towns competition with Ballinahown earning a remarkable 314 while Tyrrellspass jumped an incredible 12 marks from 284 to 296.
Praising Ballinhoun’s community spirt, the Tidy Town adjudicators said, “The Village has succeeded in retaining its high mark in this category over the years and it is primarily down to the support from local volunteers that this happened.”
Meanwhile the judges lauded the efforts made by Tyrrellpass Tidy Towns Committee saying, “It was very pleasing to come back to Tyrrellspass, one time winner of the national award in the competition and enjoy its charm.”
Kilbeggan, Kinnegad and Glasson also impressed the judges and made improvements on their previous scores.
Mullingar saw another surge in points this year topping last year’s mark by four with a very respectable score of 267.
Chairman of the Tidy Towns Committee, Bill Colentine told Topic that he was confident that Mullingar would improve on this year’s marks in the 2016 competion. “Work is ongoing and we will look at the areas where we got low marks. I know we can improve next year. We have a lot of support from many people.”
The fromer town councillor, who was appointed as chairperson of the committee this year, extended his gratitude to TUS, the CE Scheme and the people of Mullingar. “It would be remiss of us not to thank the Mullingar public for their support and also the County Council for their assistance throughout the past year.”
In the Built Envrionment and Streetscape cateogry the adjudicators were very taken with the Camino gardens in the cathedral grounds. “The cathedral was one of the highlights of our visit. We admired the impressive grounds here, including the neatly maintained Camino garden.”
They also commented on the committee’s work tackling the problem of derelict properties in the town. “We are glad to note that one such property has been occupied by a retailer since last year.”
In the same category, the Tidy Towns judges also admired the archictecture of the town with buildings such as the All Saints’ Church, Market House, Austin Friar’s Pharmacy andTom Birmingham’s catching their eye.
In the Landscaping and Open Spaces category the judges took note of the town’s many beautiful areas. “The town park was one of our highlights where grass areas, flower beds, tree planting and seats were all in good order. The modern County Buildings surrounded by the lovely Tranquillity Park, where landscaping is maturing nicely. We admired the landscaping surrounding the Annebrook House.”
They also aknowledged the neat appearance of the Royal Canal, saying, “Your efforts to maintain this special amenity are noted and it is good to hear that canal banks are maintained in a natural state to maintain habitats here. We are impressed that one can walk or cycle 30 km along its banks.”
While there were a few minor issues in relation to tidiness, the judges noted the neat appearance of many of the town’s residential areas. “Some residences along town streets were freshly painted and colourful; others were enhanced with window boxes or tubs.”
