Communities in Bloom

TEAM VICTORY The Westport delegation pictured in Dublin last year, on the day the town won the National Tidy Towns award. Pic: Maxwells

Communities in bloom travelogue

De Facto
Liamy MacNally

Sometimes it is important to acknowledge other people’s acknowledgement. The recent Communities in Bloom competition is an example. The Canadian-based non-profit organisation hosts the international competition to ‘foster civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement and the challenge of a national programme’. Westport was awarded the top prize in the International Small Population Category. Cllr Margaret Adams and Town Architect, Mr Simon Wall, represented the town at the awards ceremony in Canada. Both are seasoned international envoys!

CITATION
It is worth reading the evaluation form for Westport (in the Council offices), which was under several headings. The headings were: Tidiness, Environmental Awareness, Community Involvement, Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation, Tree/Urban Forest Management, Landscaped Areas, Floral Displays and Turf and Groundcovers. A total of 125 marks were awarded under each heading. Each heading has four sub-sections: Municipality/Public Properties, Commercial/Industrial Sector and Service Clubs, Schools, Churches, Not-for-Profit Groups. Westport secured 887 out of a possible 1,000, a rating of 88.7 per cent, with a ‘Bloom Rating’ of 5 Blooms, the maximum available. The citation reads: “Congratulations to Westport, Ireland… Your beautiful and clean community, your hardworking volunteers, your businesses and Town Council have all come together to create a winning entry… We are impressed with the ‘Bloom’ Committee for its plan of action. Its links with the various key players and numerous enthusiastic contributing groups and volunteers are functioning effectively and with pride in the accomplishments…” Apart from just giving marks the judges also made comments and suggestions under each heading. Most were interesting, while some were amusing. They range from a proposal to log the number of hours volunteers ‘work’ in keeping Westport looking so well to providing allotments for people to grow their own food. What was interesting in the recommendations is that many of them are already being carried out by various groups in the town.

THE ENVOYS VISIT MONCTON
Cllr Margaret Adams and Simon Wall headed off to Moncton in Canada on Tuesday, September 18. They departed Dublin Airport on Wednesday for the eight-hour flight to Toronto. They were delayed and missed their connecting flight to Moncton but went on standby, arriving in Moncton at around 6.30pm local time, almost 24 hours after they set out. In typical fashion, they went bearing gifts and they were duly presented for a Silent Auction (a fund-raiser for the Communities in Bloom). The gifts included Roger Harley’s pottery, a Foxford rug and a bottle of Jameson. All exceeded their real values at the auction. The Westport judges in the competition, Margaret Stinson and Evelyn Alamanni, were to the fore in the welcoming party. During the day all visitors attended a presentation on Parks and Open Spaces with a reception and flag exchange that evening. The three mayors from the surrounding areas, Dieppe, Moncton and Riverview, attended the event in Dieppe Town Hall. Cllr Adams spoke of the links between Ireland and that area of Canada to a hushed and appreciative audience of some 500 delegates. A reception was held later in Vaughan city, hosts of the Communities in Bloom for 2009. Gardening, horticulture, community tourism projects and environmental awareness projects were part of a symposium the following day. Site visits were also the order of the day as visitors were shown a major sewerage treatment plant and Fundy National Park. Issues like urban forestry, waterfront development, tree support systems, active living promotion, climate change, winter lights and property presentation were discussed and debated. Everyone had something to offer and everyone had something to learn, according to Cllr Margaret Adams, who says that Simon Wall excelled in his presentations. Apparently the pied piper of Westport gathered a large following during his speeches! He impressed so much that there is talk of a return visit on the cards after his input. Those of us who have heard Simon speak at such events on foreign shores are aware of his abilities, with his knowledge finding a home in his wit.

THE COVIE FACTOR
Naturally, when one Covie emerges there is always another! Mary Muldoon informed Margaret Adams that her sister, Bernie lived in Moncton. The Westport contingent met Bernie Muldoon and her husband, John, and invited them to the awards ceremony and the banquet. It is at times like these that the ambassadorial skills of Margaret Adams come to the fore. There is no better host abroad! Nobody knew how Westport had fared out in the competition until the formal announcement was made. With typical luck, Margaret Adams was there to accept the highest accolade for the town, as she was in Dublin Castle when Westport won its first National Tidy Towns Award. According to Margaret Adams when the announcement was made a great cheer went up for Westport, a popular winner in Canada. The award itself, currently on view at Westport Town Council offices, 'is made of a section of granite from the Canadian Shield, embossed with a 24 ct gold-plated maple leaf'. Cllr Adams had another chance to speak when accepting the award, received again with rapturous applause. The Green Flag School initiative received special mention in the win. All hats will have to be tipped to An Taisce for this initiative, as they host the project in this country. Following a Covie breakfast in the home of Bernie Muldoon and her husband, John, the Westport envoys set out on the return journey. En route they visited Ireland Park in Toronto, where thousands of our ancestors first set foot on their trail of tears that is known as the Great Famine.

‘TRAVEL DIRECTORY’
Westport Town Council is now setting up a ‘travelogue’ – a compendium of reports from councillors and officials who travel abroad on official business. This will preserve some record of the trip for future generations. Reports by Cllr Adams and Simon Wall of their Canadian trip were circulated at last week’s monthly Council meeting. The initiative is to be welcomed. This project could also be extended to include reports from councillors who attend conferences in this country. The public would then have some idea who attended which conferences and where.  It would also keep at bay a practice in council areas in other parts of the country of turning up to register at a conference and then leaving for home, in the sure knowledge that the expenses will be in the post.

BACK TO THE HUM DRUM!
The Canadian trippers returned to the usual two and sixpence of workshops, agendas and Council meetings. Last week’s meeting ranged from the Canadian trip to ice-skating on The Mall this Christmas! It was preceded by a two-hour sweat session on traffic management.
This was one of the infamous workshops, no press allowed. Traffic management was touched on at the meeting but watch this space, the issue has not gone away. It looks like the councillors are setting out to grapple with it. This will unfold over the next few months. The issue of the Civic Offices was also raised. It will be on the next agenda. Civic Offices, a multi-storey car park and on-street car parking charges are all issues to be debated in the forthcoming winter season – the three-in-one solution to a Community in Bloom.