CCTV cameras are to be installed at six Tipperary sites in a bid to tackle persistent illegal dumping.

Tipperary County Council said previous measures to tackle the problem had achieved “sub-optimal levels of success”, prompting the move to install CCTV at six sites.

The six sites are the bring banks in Cloughjordan, Ballycahill, Tesco in Cashel, Tesco in Tipperary town, West Gate in Clonmel, and Showerbog in Annaholty, Nenagh.

The current phase of the project aims to assess how effective CCTV systems are in capturing evidence of illegal dumping.

The CCTV systems will be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, starting later this month.

The council says that the project is needed because illegal dumping at these sites is “detrimental to the environment and leads to pollution and the creation of a health hazard”.

The ongoing dumping is of “increasing concern” to the council, who are seeking opinions from members of the public about the planned introduction of CCTV at these sites.

“Various measures have been undertaken to address this issue, including public awareness initiatives and waste and litter enforcement, with sub-optimal levels of success.

“Having regard to its experience to date, Tipperary County Council is now of the view that the installation of Closed-Circuit Television System (CCTV) surveillance is warranted,” the council said.

The local authority added that once the trial period is over, the footage will be analysed to see how successful the project has been in discouraging illegal dumping at the six sites where it is a persistent issue.

Earlier this year, Fianna Fáil councillor for Thurles Sean Ryan called on the council to introduce CCTV cameras as illegal dumping hotspots, saying that illegal dumping is particularly hard on Tidy Towns groups.

“I do think we need CCTV, and I know there’s a GDPR problem, but I do think it’s something we should try using, because at the end of the day, what ever little grant the Tidy Towns groups get from the district here, we get a huge amount back from the work that they do,” he said.

Any members of the public who wish to have their say on the project can do so in writing or by email to Environment and Climate Action, Tipperary County Council, Civic Offices, Clonmel, or [email protected].

Submissions must be received by September 25.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme