The skate park, the graffiti, the drug paraphernalia, the drug dealers.

It is deeply disappointing that the skate park area is not included in this CCTV pilot, given that it is a known, persistent litter and anti-social behaviour black spot in Kilkenny.

This is not a speculative concern or an occasional issue. The skate park is regularly and visibly the scene of:

Drug taking
Alcohol consumption
Discarded needles and drug paraphernalia
Broken bottles and glass
Fires under the bridge
Ongoing graffiti and vandalism
Drug dealing
And Drug gangs leaving markers of their territory as picutred.

Every single day, there is leftover paraphernalia from drug use and alcohol consumption in an area that is explicitly designed for children and young people. This presents a clear public safety risk, not just an environmental issue.

I have previously highlighted all of the above — including photographic evidence — to councillors and senior management within Kilkenny County Council. To date, nothing meaningful has been done. This submission exists because the problem has not gone away; it has been normalised through inaction.

By contrast, this CCTV pilot focuses heavily on bring banks, where littering is often the result of:

Poorly aligned emptying schedules
Overflowing infrastructure
A lack of realistic disposal options for residents

Targeting these locations while ignoring the skate park creates the perception that the Council prefers to focus on easy enforcement rather than addressing serious, entrenched black spots involving drugs, anti-social behaviour, and risks to children.

If CCTV cameras were installed at the skate park, they would deliver a multi-pronged public benefit, including:

Reducing the presence of drug dealers in the area
Reducing discarded needles and drug paraphernalia
Reducing general litter
Reducing broken bottles and glass
Reducing fires under the bridge
Reducing graffiti and vandalism
Making the area safer
Protecting our kids

These outcomes align far more closely with the stated objectives of the CCTV pilot than several of the proposed locations.

I am therefore calling on councillors and Council staff to stop ignoring real black spots and to stop treating this as a purely administrative exercise. If the Council is serious about litter prevention, environmental protection, and public safety, then the skate park must be treated as a priority location, not an inconvenience to be avoided.

Continuing to exclude the skate park from enforcement and monitoring measures raises serious questions about:

Prioritisation
Proportionality
Duty of care to children and young people

Real problems require real intervention.
The skate park is a real black spot, and it deserves real action.

While drug enforcement is a Garda matter, the environmental consequences of drug-related activity — including discarded needles, paraphernalia, and contaminated public spaces — fall squarely within the Council’s remit. This responsibility is heightened where the Council has placed and continues to operate a public facility for children and young people in a location that has become a persistent litter and hazardous-waste black spot.

Kilkenny County Council Public Consultation on a Pilot CCTV Project for Litter and Dumping Prevention and Enforcement - Submissions

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