Green TD – Steven Matthews has joined with local Tidy Towns Groups in Wicklow in calling for election posters for the upcoming local and European elections to only be placed in specific locations agreed with the local community. Discussing the issue in advance of the forthcoming June 7th votes, Deputy Matthews said:
“In every election that I have run in both for the council and the Dáil, the issue of election posters cluttering up areas is brought up with me. As a politician, I fully appreciate the need to get your name out there, particularly for new candidates, but from the perspective of residents, I understand the frustration of looking out your window and having 10 smiling faces looking back at you from the nearest lamppost.
“We need to move away from the scattergun approach adopted by many political parties that has posters hanging from any tiny gap on a lamppost or fence that creates potential road safety issues and more than anything is extremely unsightly.
“The benefits of reducing the number of posters and limiting where they can go are very clear from an environmental perspective as so many of these posters end up in the landfill or worse, end up falling down and littering the community.
“I supported a Bill in the Oireachtas in recent years that sought to put in place legal regulations regarding where posters could be put. Unfortunately, it won’t have passed through the Dáil in advance of the June elections, but it doesn’t mean that agreements can’t be reached at local level between political parties, Wicklow County Council and community groups in each district. Similar agreements have been in place in several towns in Wicklow for previous elections so I hope this can happen again.
“It’s a reasonable compromise to reduce the quantity and limit posters to specific locations that are agreed with the local community and Wicklow County Council. I hope that all political parties can work with the local community on this issue, concluded Deputy Matthews.
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