Pride of Place 2024
Best Large Town
Johnstown has a significant population with over 3,000 homes. As part of Navan it has it's own identifiable community and our varied endeavors to improve and maintain our neighbourhood draws on support from local residents, four nearby schools, three local sports grounds, government bodies, and several local businesses.
Highlights of the Year
Our volunteers are proactively seeking to reveal the best that Johnstown can offer.
Our volunteers have continued to maintiain our neighbourhood with increased engagement from Meath County Council Departments, local schools, businesses, community groups, specialists, and the residents in general.
Key Highlights:
Despite mother nature's turbulent weather we hosted our annual Sunflower Trail, we hosted our annual St Martha's Bridge summer flower baskets and our first-ever winter display, It was very good to see the IDA engage with wildflower planting at their roundabout and Metges Rd entrance and refrain from weedkiller use on Bothar Sion fence. Our 'Wild Areas' on estate lawns for grasses and plants were maintained and we persevered with our actions to avoid weedkiller use along our green Km.
We paused any new planting or new pollinator actions whilst our Community Biodiversity Action Plan (grant from The Community Foundation of Ireland) was generated by Ecologist Fintan Damer MSc. We will now start to implement the proposals over the coming months.
It was great to engage positively with Colaiste Na Mi Secondary School Green Team and TY Students on biodiversity projects. We hope to support and encourage a youth group to contribute to the well-being of our environment and community.
Key Points:
Our planting projects demonstrate that we engage all ages and abilities within our community and that we liase with many groups, council departments, and conform to the pollinator.ie communities’ actions with steps taken to:
We identify and protect existing areas that are good for pollinators
Signage is used to identify the public areas within the local community that are important for pollinators
We protect existing sources and encourage new areas of food and shelter for pollinators
We have 5/6 active areas where the frequency of mowing grassy areas is reduced
We have 2 active areas where reduced mowing aims to create a summer wildflower meadow
We have promoted creation of a short flowering ‘6-week meadow’
We let the Dandelions bloom for 3 estate lawns where spring first cut was delayed until after mid April.
No Mow May was promoted and nearly fully achieved for 2500sqm of the Bailis Downs estate lawn - Cuckoo flowers appeared for the first time ever!
100% Pollinator-friendly planting used in the St Martha's Bridge summer flower displays.
Flowering trees and shrubs maintained along Metges Rd - more held back and to be planted in Autumn
Perennial flowers for pollinators reused from the bridge plants along the Athlumnney Hall Verge
Annual flowers for pollinators are maintained along the Bailis Downs wildflower fence.
Pollinator-friendly roundabouts are planned using clover and potentially wildflowers. This is being trialed for a second time in a small residents lawn.
Create new hedgerows
Reduce / Eliminate the use of pesticides through our collaboration with MCC to not use weedkillers along the green km, we are also asking resident groups to do the same or ensure best practise where the use of pesticides cannot be avoided
Raised public awareness of pollinators within the local area through sunflowers, bridge baskets, and pesticide ellimination.
Promote the Junior Pollinator Plan with connections made with Colaiste Na Mi Green Team presentation, TY student action day
Raise awareness within local businesses with engagement in our Sunflower trail, and pollinator friendly planters at Taylors, O'Briens, and Spun Run and Cycle.
Put up signage - although it still goes missing fairly quickly.
We track progress and recognise efforts made by groups.
We promote logging ‘Actions for Pollinators’ on the Pollinators.ie mapping system
We continue to have follow-up projects to identify what is growing in our project sites, what species benefit from our actions, and how to encourage more through surveys and studies. Our current engagement with schools will hopefully lead to more proactive citizen science projects.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Our list of those we've engaged with over the past 12mths for supplies or information is ever growing and varied.
MAPS
Location
Reference Map 2024
Walking Map with referenced locations
Please Note our reduction in Mapped Are to enable the Old Johnstown Village Community Group to enter Tidy Towns in the small village category.
Green Km
Due to Mother Nature and her weather the actual final display was greatly reduced (details below)
2023 Sunflower Trail
Due to Mother Nature and her weather the actual final display was greatly reduced (details below)
Vacant Buildings
Please Note that:
No.2 is now a fully renovated site and no longer Vacant
View the Projects Index or scroll through the projects.
COMMUNICATION
(M) Social Media Facebook
Our main means to communicate online.
Our Facebook page gains the most local attention and is largely shared through the Community Group Page Navan South Communities Unite (5,700 members), this would explains why our follower numbers don't increase greatly.
Statistics 10 May 2023 to 7th May 2024
1,455 Followers, an increase of 100
Posts Reached 37,135
4,500 Page Visits 329% increase
(M) Website
Launched in 2022 www.JohnstownTidyTowns.ie hosts a record of our endeavours, successes and learnings, together with our plans and aspirations for the environment and community.
Our small team maintains the site and particularly useful for keeping a record of our work in date order has been the snapshot news page and competition entries which provide annual summaries.
(M) AGM & Volunteer Of The Year
Hosted at O'Briens, Old Johnstown Village 8pm 12/12/2023, we offered congratulations to our volunteer of the year 2023 Peter Heylin.
'Peter has been a volunteer with JTT since our establishment in 2015. Because of Peter's consistent efforts as a volunteer over the years he has contributed greatly to the many awards won by the group in both the Pride of Place and Tidy Towns competitions.'
Cllr Alan Lawes
Chairman of JTT
(N) St Brigid's Day, Navan
Helping to promote local crafts people Johnstown Tidy Towns sponsored 2 table stalls for Chunks of Art and artist Monika Hajcsar at the St. Brigid's Day Festival on 5th February in the centre of Navan.
(M) Raise Awareness
The first Bag Pack since Covid, Feb 2020, where we returned to Smith's SuperValu, Johnstown Shopping Centre, to help raise our profile in the community.
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
(P) Supporting theTús initiative.
The TÚS initiative is a community work placement scheme providing short-term quality work experience opportunities for unemployed people. The work opportunities are to the benefit of the community and are provided by community and voluntary organisations in both urban and rural areas.
Having made enquiries in March 2023 we are eligible and are looking into the requirements to make something positive happen.
(N) Johnstown Community Biodiversity Action Plan
In 2023 we were delighted to receive a €5,000 grant from The Community Foundation For Ireland to create a Community Biodiversity Action Plan for Johnstown.
A series of surveys throughout 2023 by ecologist Fintan Damer highlighted species of flora and fauna and opportunities to support biodiversity. The report has now been produced and we are discussing a plan of action to communicate and implement the proposals.
We hope to have the local schools help with key initiatives.
(N) Heritage Keepers
Following on from the 5-week Heritage Keepers workshops in Feb 2023, hosted by The Heritage Council and Burrenbeo Trust and supported by the Community Foundation of Ireland, and working with Wild About Navan we hosted the first community event of 'Gather The Tribe' at the Solstice Theatre.
Over 40 attended the short talks, a shared lunch, and conversations to stimulate and inspire our community we shared local expertise and knowledge and learned from each other.
The outcome was to organise future events including nature talks and walks and attendees were invited to join the Wild About Navan mailing list to keep the new network connected.
(M) Green Km
Our Green (4) Km supported biodiversity for the first time with both longer-grown grass verges and pesticide & herbicide-free pavement and curb weed removal.
(N) Water Heritage Day
Following the success of the Riverside clean in April 2023 we participated in the 2nd event headed by Wild About Navan August 20th. We also envisage hosting local riverside clean-up and guided walks once we've formulated our Community Biodiversity Action Plan. Thanks to Meath County Council Local Authority Waters Programme and The Heritage Council for their support.
We participated in the 3 events organised by #WildAboutNavan:
The Big Boyne clean-up along the Ramparts
Adults and kids alike helped haul 3 trolleys and 30 bags of rubbish from along our walkway. Most of the litter was composed of bottles, single use plastic, and vapes.
The Ramparts riverside nature walk
Botanist Sinéad took us for a wander to learn more about what wildlife we can find along the Ramparts.
The River Boyne Guided Cycle with Navan Cycling Initiative
NCI and local geologist extraordinaire Dr Robbie Meehan took us on a relaxed bike ride to learn about the geodiversity of the Boyne Valley right here in Navan.
(N) Green School Talk
From Coláiste Na Mí
'Today our Green Schools Committee welcomed Councillor Alan Lawes, Ben Malone (biodiversity officer with Meath County Council) and Robin (Johnstown Tidy Towns) to our school.
Our guests spoke to students on all things biodiversity. During this visit students learned about pesticides and the effects that they can have on our wildlife and water. Huge thanks to Alan, Ben and Robin for taking time out of their busy schedule to come in and chat with us. '
(N) Student Volunteers
From Coláiste Na Mí
Today was a day of action for our Coláiste Na Mí Green School Committee and Coordinator Iníon Elliot!
Together, they took charge of cleaning up the road leading to our school. Our incredible students worked hard, scraping weeds to prevent harmful pesticides from being sprayed and protecting our water from contamination. Plus, they did a fantastic job clearing away litter, making our environment cleaner and healthier for everyone.
A huge shoutout to Alan A Lawes and Robin from Johnstown Tidy Towns, as well as Tuscany Pizzeria, for their incredible support. They treated us to a delicious well-deserved lunch after our efforts!
A massive thank you to everyone involved for making today both productive and enjoyable. Let's keep working together for a greener, cleaner future!
(N) School Thrift Shop
From Coláiste Na Mí Secondary School
Huge shoutout to our amazing school community for rallying behind our recent thrift shop event! Thanks to your generous support, we were able to make it a huge success. All proceeds are going to SVP, making a real difference in the lives of those in need.
A special round of applause to the incredible students of LCA 2 for their dedication and hard work! From organising to sorting, bagging, folding, and even building rails, your efforts were truly outstanding. We not only made great memories but also had a blast doing it together. Let's keep spreading kindness and making a positive impact in our community!
(N) Monthly Cleaning Blitz Day
The first Saturday morning in May was the inaugural monthly action day event. A team effort from members of The Lighthouse Church achieved 80 manhours of work from 20+ volunteers attending to litter pick, weeding, and painting over graffiti.
Going forward we plan to host a community action day on either the first Friday or Saturday of every month to show their pride in our area.
(M) Plastic Waste Avoid-Reduce
Local Councillor Elections are expected June 7th and in 2019 and 2020 we successfully prevented the streetscape being littered with political plastic posters.
We have asked all potential candidates not to erect street posters along Johnstown's Green Km. This looks like a challenging year with dozens of posters erected on the night of May 7th despite our request.
(M) Stop Weedkiller Use
In 2022 we were unsuccessful in obtaining a grant to purchase and operate the Foamstream System but the Council offered assistance collecting the weed debris using their road sweeper. This significantly increased the efficiency and reduced the manhours required to clear 4km of road and 10km of edging during 2023.
Now in 2024 the Council has offered to maintain the edging along the Green Km stretch using a new brush system that could mean fewer action days manually removing the weeds.
(M) Alternative Lawn Care
Delay First Lawn Cut
Delaying the first lawn cut of the year isn't easy when Easter keeps moving around and when many decide to revisit their gardens and children want to play outside. Several estate lawns did however benefit and the display of dandelions again turned Johnstown yellow.
'No Mow May'
For the 3rd year running, and in collaboration with Wild About Navan, we advocate 'No Mow May' followed by 'Let it Bloom June', and finally 'Grow High July'.
'Don't Mow Yet'
We're delighted that Meath County Council followed through with the 2023 plan to allow certain verges and roundabouts to grow the grass longer than usual, wildflowers appeared, and a better habitat for biodiversity was created. It allowed residents to see the stark aesthetic contrast between commercial marketing and what Mother Nature intended.
Although we haven't seen any street signs we hope to see this initiative continue and we fully support utilising the Green Km Initiative to demonstrate what we think the future should look like.
(N) Helping Neighbouring Groups
Volunteers donated their time and some of our sunflowers to help The Courtyard Flower Hill Residents Group and their Pride of Place Entry.
(N) Bicycle Hire
Shared Bike Scheme Launched in Navan – From today you’ll be able to get around Navan even more easily, with a Tier Mobility shared bike! Fifty bikes are available all around Navan – including 25 e-Bikes #NavanCycling #ActiveTravel
Read more on their website: http://navancycling.ie/shared-bike-scheme-launches-in-navan/
(P) Cycle Path Extension
We're expecting progress to be made to enhance the Dublin Road and allow it to connect Johnstown with Navan via suitable paths as part of the Navan Cycle Scheme - Part 8 Notice (Ref P822011).
Academy street already has the beginnings of infrastructure but the main road is still without.
The Johnstown Bus stops all gained bicycle racks to promote all cycling.
Community Surveys
We continue to uncover what baselines we have and how our community operates through a number of ongoing surveys including;
Click to Read MorePollinator Projects,
Weed Killer Use
Trees
Hedgerows
1st Estate Cut
Litter Hotspots
Cycling Routes
(N) Congestion
We were delighted to discover that NCI took up the challenge to measure traffic in Johnstown. Locals are very familiar with the school and rush hour congestion and 2km tailbacks are daily due to the road arrangement. The statistics from the live dashboard are not shocking because they correlate to what we see daily. Unfortunately, the number travelling will increase as the neighbourhood continues to grow but it will be interesting to see if people change their mode of transport.
Navan Cycling Initiative put a traffic sensor at Spun Run and Cycle on Metges Road, to measure walking, cycling, and other traffic. This was inspired by an EU-funded project called WeCount ( we-count.net ) a few years ago, led in Ireland by UCD, and designed with privacy as a key principle.
The live information https://telraam.net/en/location-profile/9000005607
'We wanted to share some insights from the traffic sensor, and I suppose see if there's anyone interested in getting involved in this "citizen science" initiative.'
From monitoring Metges Road In the 6mths since 1st September 2023, we've seen that:
Almost 700,000 cars passed by the sensor, with 11% (76,000+ cars) travelling at 70 km/h or more
Peak car times are 8-9am and 5-6pm
Pedestrians make up 7% of "traffic" (61,391), and just under 1% are two-wheelers (8,125). Peak time for pedestrians is 5-6pm
(N) 'Re-turn' Starts Map Ref 37
The money-back scheme came into effect today and we expect to see a dramatic reduction in the litter on our streets!
A refundable fee of 15 or 25 cents has been added to the normal price of plastic drink bottles and aluminum cans stamped with the 'Re-turn' logo.
Supervalu (Johnstown) is our nearest store with a reverse vending machines
PROJECT SITES
(M) Sunflower Trail
Following the success of 2022 we took the opportunity to expand and proposed over 50 sites with two routes. The 4 local school students participated in germinating and growing flowers for the public spaces. The local 'Grow Shop' generously donated over 40 compost bags and 10 local residents agreed to germinate an extra 500 seeds in their own gardens for sharing amongst their neighbours' front gardens to fill in the 'trail gaps'.
The weather ultimately decided the success of the trail and the germination of 1400 sunflowers was severly hampered by the very wet and unseasonal cool weather. The small plants were more susceptible to hungry slugs (we didn't encourage slug pellets) and coupled with the slow plant growth the final crop was less than 20%. This resulted in only 16 display sites.
The 2024 trail has been abandoned due to a number of key volunteers being unavailable during critical months of May, June, and early July. We hope to have the sunflower trail re-established in 2025.
Proposed 2023 Trail
(N&M) St Martha's Bridge Flower Displays Map Ref 1
For the first time we hosted both Summer and Winter flower display at St Martha's Bridge with both being extremely well received by followers on social media.
The Summer emphasis was pollininators whilst the over-winter plants added delicate colour during the darker colder months.
Thank you to Navan Garden Centre for the Summer display and Beechmount Garden Centre for creating our first ever autumn display.
Summer Display
Autum, Winter, and Spring Display
We are repeating the collection of plastic drink bottles from local pubs that will be used for our Sunflower Trail. 600 used in 2022 and 200 in 2023. We continue to have access to 1,000 Ltrs of harvested rainwater via butts at volunteers' homes to water the St Martha's Bridge summer flowers.
Our 150 ltr portable containers purchased in 2022 proved very successful and much more manageable than our portable 100ltr rainwater buggy.
(P) Bothar Sion Bank Map Ref 2
Our initial proposal for a sculpture and biodiversity planting project in collaboration with Wild About Navan and Cllr Yemi Adenuga, initially proposed to MCC in 2021, is still on hold. The results from an ecology report highlighted the considerable biodiversity value with over 50+ valued species within the banks that meant we should significantly scale back the project. The forthcoming Council elections may determine if funding for this project is available.
(M) Clear The Clutter Map Ref 3
As part of our MCC Green Km initiative we made a request in 2023 to remove the two 'out of date' and very large National Development Plan signs at the Bothar Sion bus stop. We will repeat the request in 2024.
(M) Bailis Downs Fence Line Map Ref 4
The Bothar Sion Fence Line Native Irish Wildflowers originally came from an expensive seed packet and since each flower produces hundreds of seeds we've collected these.
The summer's 2nd-year display was quite different to the vivid red poppies. yellow, orange, & blue cornflowers pictured. We intervened to cast a few collected seeds in 2023 to add some vibrant colour but very few germinated and although they were noticeable grass is overpowering the site.
(M) Dispersed Urban Orchard Map Ref 5,15 and 16
17 trees now for the contribution by Johnstown to the Wild About Navan Dispersed Urban Orchard project.
(M) Athlumney Hall Verge Map Ref 6
We continue to allow the strip to evolve although at times we have cut it back to make it more presentable. In the spring it is full of dandelions and the rosemary flowers, a few colourful wildflowers emerge during summer. The challenge is over winter when it looks at its least appealing.
(P) Bus Stop Planting Map Ref 7
Due to the loss of plants at the nearby Athlumney Verge site we have paused this project until we can secure volunteers living close by who will monitor any planting.
We have a volunteer trialing the sowing of clover lawn to see if this will be a suitable proposal for the grass bank instead of planting. If it is successful, we propose to change the grass at the Johnstown roundabouts.
(M) Former Petrol Station Verge Map Ref 8
We continue to maintain the bank as a summer meadow with no significant changes since 2023, and the raspberries returned once more in autumn.
(N) Apartments Replace Athlumney Centre Map Ref 9
Within one year the change has been significant, the derelict and rundown shopping centre was demolished in May 2022 and new modern apartments were created and fully occupied in late 2023 early 2024. These have significantly improved the welcoming image of Johnstown.
(P&M) More Metges Rd Native Trees Map Ref 10 & 12
We plan to double the length of the planting area along Metges Road east side and to double it's depth Trees received from MCC in March 2024 have been put into temporary pots ready for planting in the autumn.
(M) Wild Area Map Ref 11
A completely 'wild' area where we're doing very little except to leave the space alone to see what grows. After walking the site with the Biodiversity Plan ecologist we have agreed to 'do nothing' to the site until we receive feedback from his report.
(M) Chestnut & Elm Estate Summer Meadows Map Ref 12
Now into our 3rd season it is visble to passing vehicles along the busy Metges Road and is quite accepted by the public with no complaints received. The sea of dandelions soon swells with grasses, we edge the plot with our lawn mower, and it severely cut back in September. The area recovered after being mistakenly cut by the contractor in Spring 2023, although the yellow rattler did not return in many locations.
(N&P) Estate Marker Stones Map Ref 13
We expected clover in early Spring 2023 but only the native Irish wildflowers appeared, even the Rudbeckia Goldsturm's, previously held back in pots before planting in July, didn't appreciate the soil or location.
(N) Johnstown School Campus Map Ref 14
Works continue with the completion of building shells at Colaiste Na Mi Secondary School and the new buildings for St Mary's Special School (currently in Old Johnstown Village).
(M) Spireview Lawn Summer Meadow Map Ref 17
Yellow rattle thrived here in 2023 and returned in 2024 to make a brief appearance before turning brown for autumn harvesting by volunteers.
Yellow rattle flowers, returnefd in May
(M) Spireview Parade Summer Meadow Map Ref 18
We have left the area to Mother Nature since it has not been resolved for us to manage the site as a summer meadow. It is still benefiting biodiversity although haphazardly and cutting it in September is an issue of concern.
(P) Spireview Steps Map Ref 19
Still on Hold awaiting a partnership with The Old Johnstown Village Community Tidy Towns Group
An opportunity to resolve antisocial behaviour and to 'beautify' an essential link is still yet to progress. We included the site in our 2022 Sunflower Trail but unfortunately, vandals removed the entire display of 15 sunflowers within 48hrs.
We will revisit the proposal perhaps with wildflowers or planting mature fruiting bushes.
(M) Johnstown People's Park Map Ref 20
The Park's Management Team has continued to allow Johnstown FC the opportunity to use the park for training their youngest teams and hosting an annual soccer event. Despite being privately owned it remains open to the public however we have made no progress in changing the grass cutting regeme because it requires consent from the 600+ shareholders. Nor can we add planting or seating for the same reasons.
A meeting was called 27/05/24 to discuss the proposal from Johnstown FC to host a pitch, multipurpose space, off street parking, and playground. We await the outcome.
(M) JPP Corner Map Ref 21
The Irish Native Wildflowers sown in 2021 to stop weedkiller use and encourage the community to embrace planting for pollinators have proved problematic to council landscapers. The wildflowers have not quite recovered from previous early mowings and we sust=pect that we will need to reseed if we wish to retain the display.
(M) Kilcarn Bridge Field Map Ref 22
Benefiting biodiversity by being natural the owner is continuing to let mother nature take over.
(N) Winter Lights Display Map Ref 23
Volunteers adorned ten tree with LED lights along Metges Road. Illuminated by batteries they added a subtle sparkle to a dark stretch between 4pm and 10pm each evening.
(P) Shopping Centre Landscaping Map Ref 24
Update
We still aim to push for this item but have not progressed it since the 'cost of living' crisis continues. We have made progress assisting the centre with a carpark clean-up event and intend to propose 'improvements' especially since Smith's SuperVlu won the store of the year award 2023 and going the extra mile might now be in their interest.
Proposed
Bouncing from a health emergency to the 'cost of living' crisis we are awaiting a more suitable time to propose an enhancement to the car park and verge areas of the Johnstown Shopping Centre. A proposal has been drafted to discuss hosting low-level advertising planters that would be sponsored by each of the shops. These would contain water reservoirs and be from reclaimed or recycled material and host seasonal planting with a bias for biodiversity, low maintenance, and sustainability.
Johnstown really needs some form of public seating despite concerns for youth gatherings.
We feel that the car park pedestrian crossing areas are in need of practical barriers whilst the occasional car parks and block pedestrians around the perimeter of the shops.
The appearance of the waste bins could be enhanced and incorporate new segregation bins in the area.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
(M) Food Poverty
We continue to support families experiencing food poverty with weekly deliveries by volunteers within the Navan area. Out volunteers are supporting Core Ireland and the Athboy People Who Care Share group.
(M) Navan Outreach
Volunteers continue to support those homeless and those camping on the streets, or wasteland, in Navan. A report is being compiled and sent to the Council for a long-term solution to be found.
Warm Clothing Donation
A huge thank you to Janette and her fellow workers in @penneysnavan for donating a huge amount of warm winter clothing to the homeless.
Jackei and Paul of The Joshua Project on Kennedy Road in Navan who are serving Christmas Dinner to the homeless community, have agreed to hand out the clothing on Christmas Day.
(M) Christmas Shoebox and Food Hampers
Thanks to all who helped make Christmas a little more special for 72 homeless families and their 125 children across Meath today.
Thanks to Core Ireland Athboy's People Who Share Care Group Malones Navan Smiths SuperValu Loreto Secondary School, St. Michael's, Navan Versatile Bathrooms & Tiles Meath County Council. Fr Mc Verry HUB Sharon Lynch and the Meath Civil Defence.
Gingerbread Maker
What made this year's Christmas a little bit more special was that people like Ciara Carroll a staff member with @smiths_supervalu_navan went the extra mile and personally baked 700 gingerbread men to add to the many treats and goodies given to the children.
Christmas Party
The Meath Chronicle provided a great write-up on our plans to host a party to spread some cheer to families and individuals spending Christmas homeless or in temporary accommodation.
