Tidy Towns Competition 2007
Adjudication Report
Centre: Maynooth Ref: 377
County: Kildare Mark: 261
Category: F Date(s): 18/06/2007
Maximum Mark
Mark Awarded 2007
Overall Development Approach 50 44
The Built Environment 50 33
Landscaping 50 40
Wildlife and Natural Amenities 50 25
Litter Control 50 30
Waste Minimisation 20 7
Tidiness 30 16
Residential Areas 40 28
Roads, Streets and Back Areas 50 30
General Impression 10 8
TOTAL MARK 400 261
Overall Development Approach:
Maynooth is welcome to the 2007 National Tidy Towns Competition; thank you for your submission with its
many additional enclosures, which were helpful during the adjudication process. In the opinion of this
adjudicator, landscaping is your greatest strength in the competition and the many stands of mature and
specimen trees were very much admired. Your heritage buildings are of great value also and of course your
location on the Royal Canal ensures fine recreational amenity potential for the community. We note your
partnership approach with statutory bodies and other agencies together with schools and business interests,
well done. We wish you every success in the implementation of your plan.
The Built Environment:
Heritage buildings, schools and churches were beautifully presented during adjudication and have a
well-cared for appearance. St. Mary’s Boys National School was particularly admired in respect of its
landscaping, both the Garda station and the Fire Station are neatly presented, and business premises enjoy a
good level of maintenance particularly in the centre; the AIB premises on the main street, which has retained
some of its traditional features, looks really well. The Leinster Arms premises is a fine old stone building and
could be considered for an award, however its signage and the positioning of posters in its windows and doors
detracts from an otherwise fine presentation. The Tattoo premises uses solid shutters which are unattractive
and have a detrimental effect on the streetscape; encourage businesses to feature the open lattice type
shutter together with internal lighting outside business hours to enhance the streetscape, it’s also good for
business as it encourages window shopping. Your tree lined main street has a most gracious appearance.
Landscaping:
The landscaped verges on the Kilcock approach road looked wonderful and was rivalled only by the entrance
to the university with its beautiful landscaping also. Stands of mature trees are a characteristic feature of
Maynooth it seems and are complemented by mature shrubberies which were in full bloom at the time of
adjudication, those that come to mind immediately include at the Aldi and Lidl premises. Of course the
roundabout at Tesco was admired also and the roadside perimeter of Tesco cannot be forgotten either. The
stretch of hedgerow along the Moyglare Road to St John of God’s Services no doubt provide wildlife habitats
to many species. The hard landscaped civic space at the junction with the Straffan Road has excellent visual
amenity value and has been considered for a landscape award.
Wildlife and Natural Amenities:
Both the Royal Canal and the River Slade offer wonderful recreational amenity opportunities to the community
in addition to being important for wildlife habitats. Well done on the creation of a wild flower and nature
reserve at Joan Slade River with the installation of bird boxes along college walls. We look forward to the
proposed report from the ecologist to identify areas that threaten wildlife. The small and large Pound Parks
offer amenity potential also together with the woodlands of St. Patrick’s College and the area that makes up
the Carton Demesne. We wish you every success in projects planned under this heading.
Litter Control:
Maynooth appeared to be litter free at the time of adjudication, which is no small achievement given your large
population and number of visitors, well done. We note from your application your twice weekly litter
collections. The students of primary and post-primary schools are to be congratulated for their involvement in
the litter-free aspect of Maynooth and congratulations to those schools that have achieved Green Flag status,
congratulations also on the appointment of a Tidy Towns liaison officer. We wish you every success in
acquiring additional recycling facilities and some new litter bins.
Waste Minimisation:
Projects undertaken for this year have been noted and no doubt all of these will bring about a reduction in the
volume of waste produced by the community; of particular note is your proactive approach with business
interests in the town, well done. Congratulations to the schoolchildren and residents associations for their
segregation of waste as part of your cleanup campaign during National Spring Clean. Recycling centres were
neatly presented.
Tidiness:
Well done on your weed management plan, it is good to note that you use environmentally friendly weed killer;
sporadic outbursts of weeds were noted along kerbs at intervals. Your awareness of superfluous signage and
unused poles is noted. Your work on removing graffiti is a most valuable initiative and we appreciate the
difficulties involved. Well done on the reduction in problems caused by through traffic with the reopening of
Bond Bridge and the introduction of the new one-way system. A number of buildings appear to be vacant of
which you are no doubt aware. Do try to keep outsized advertisement hoardings out of your lovely town.
Residential Areas:
Roadside boundary walls and stretches of hedgerow at the Moyglare Road were admired together with the
nicely painted terrace of houses on entering from the Parson Road. A charming row of single-storey dwellings
along Carton Avenue looked splendid with their colourful hanging baskets. Well done on your liaison with
residents associations on a number of issues and the assistance given; no doubt your Best Estate
Competition plays an important role in a good presentation under this heading.
Roads, Streets and Back Areas:
Road and footpath surfaces are to a mixed standard throughout the town. The road and footpath and cycle
path surface along the road to the N4 is really good while the road to Duke’s Harbour is quite bumpy. The
main street of the town features good footpath and road surfaces also and car parking is orderly. Your stone
bridges and boundary walls add great character to your historic town. It was good to note the wire scape free
aspect of your main street complemented by attractive lamp standards and coordinated with seating and litter
bins. We wish you every success with your proposed Sli na Slainte route and your plans to install large
bilingual name stones.
General Impression:
The most important first impression of Maynooth is its landscaping most especially its stands of mature trees;
your heritage buildings play an important role endowing, great character to the town. There are no serious
problems in presentation of which you are not aware of are actively working on and we look forward to your
achievements over the coming years.