2021
There were many contributions by community volunteers, residents, schools, businesses, and groups, with each performing a positive role to make Johnstown a better place in which to live, work and play. Thank you to the Johnstown Times Online Community Magazine for producing the following records.
Winning 4 awards for our work involving actions for pollinators and improving our area we continued to work around Covid Restrictions. Planting projects included 11 biodiversity sites, a Sunflower Trail, and Spring Bulbs. Community support projects included support for the Homeless in Navan, collections of Food Hampers, Christmas Presents, Easter Eggs for disadvantaged families.
Upcycled Lights
We're delighted to see the Coláiste Na Mí Christmas Tree light up the school entrance. A fantastic use of upcycled materials.
N1 and N2 Bus Stops Completed.
Meath County Council announce that 53 new wheelchair-accessible bus stops and refurbishment work to 13 existing bus stops within the town has also been completed.
Birds Eye View
Rafal Wojcicki photography captured a birds eye view ofthe JTT winter lighting installation with his drone.
You can visit and see it for yourself, Google maps link:
Santaboxes Delivered
100's of presents collected by the Meath Christmas Shoe Box Appeal For Disadvantaged Children were delivered by local volunteers over the weekend.
Metges Road Sparkles
Santa arrives to view the switching on of Johnstown Tidy Towns Winter Lighting feature on the Bailis Downs Green.
Christmas Hamper Deliveries
Volunteers with Johnstown Tidy Towns delivered 40 Food Hampers within the Navan Area to families in food poverty.
Old Johnstown Calendar 2022
Photos of Old Johnstown Village through the years with all funds raised going towards keeping the village looking it's best.
€5 each via Loretta 0863716719 or Frances 0862610871
Village Decorations
Old Johnstown Village Community Group make the village festive.
New Trees
Meath County Council distributed hundreds of tree saplings to local Community Groups. Johnstown Tidy Towns were amongst them and intend to plant up to 50 new trees in Johnstown over the coming days.
JTT Volunteer of The Year
Johnstown Tidy Towns Volunteer of the Year 2021 is Robin Marshall
Myself as Chairman of Johnstown Tidy Towns and on behalf of our other two committee members Dave and Peter and all our Volunteers. Would like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to Robin on his well deserved award sponsored by Smiths SuperValu as our volunteer of the year 2021.
This was our most successful year to date winning four awards and Robin was the main driving force behind our entries into the Pride of Place competition and the Tidy Towns itself.
Congratulations again.
Alan Lawes.Chairman of Johnstown Tidy Towns.
Walk On Wednesday's
This year St Stephens are working towards the fourth Green Schools flag, the travel flag.
The School has asked every child who can to take part in our W.O.W. days (Walk on Wednesdays). The great news is they can walk, cycle or scoot to school.
Wednesday the 24th of November will be the official launch of the school‘s very first W.O.W day. Throughout the year they want every Wednesday to be a W.O.W. day.
The children are working together to make the school a greener school.
Travel Safely!
The Green School Committee
Tidy Towns AGM
Having won 4 awards recently, at both Pride of Place and in the National Tidy Towns Competition, the volunteers report on their year so far.
View the AGM notes here
Weed Killer Free Clean
The maintenance crew from Meath County Council follow the JTT weedkiller free initiative to pressure wash and clear the weeds and debris from the drainage gullies on St Martha's Bridge.
Tidy Towns Award
Our Johnstown Volunteers gained recognition at today's National Tidy Towns Awards. This is the groups second time to win an 'Endeavour Award' for the County Meath group gaining the largest leap in points. Congratulations to the volunteers on their 5.88% increase which was hard earned during these unprecedented times.
It's Not a Sofa!
Nestling besides the main pitch this isn't a comfy winter seat for spectators.
Walterstown GFC play host to the compost pile for Johnstown Tidy Towns. This is a pilot project to recycle turf cuttings and leaf collection for use back in the community next year. The soil beneath the sheet will be used for planting areas planned for Metges Road whilst the leaves, decomposing in black bags, will make a good medium for sowing wildflowers and to place around trees to reduce the need for weedkiller use.
Hedge Trim
To make it safer for pedestrians Johnstown Tidy Towns removed the thorny branches along Metges Road outside the Boyne View Estate.
If there are any other obstacles / low branches to be removed in the neighbourhood message them on Facebook.
Not As Clean As We'd Like
Navan has improved its ranking in the latest litter survey by Irish Business Against Litter.
We've moved up from 34th place to 29th this year out of the 40 places surveyed. We're still however classed as being 'Moderately Littered'.
The Johnstown area reflects the same general report comments with food wrappers, drink bottles, and PPE waste making up the majority of the litter.
Read the reports www.ibal.ie
Sunflowers Bloom Across Johnstown
The JTT Sunflowers have bloomed at most of the 19 locations along their 8km Trail.
Lawn Trim
Johnstown Tidy Towns. cut and cleared the summer meadow steep bank at Spireview Lawn as part of their summer meadow biodiversity site. Residents helped to edge the path and kerb verges and also clear roadside weeds.
Navan Bike Fest 2021
Navan Cycling Initiative supported by Navan Road Club began Bike Week with a Family Cycle from Colaiste Na Mi Secondary School and around Navan.
Our stall gain some attention with a giant sunflower on wheels!
Bogus Door-2-Door Clothing Collectors
A recent spate of junk mail flyers across the neighbourhood are trying their hardest to pull at your heartstrings. Unfortunately their holier-than-thou messages are likely to be Bogus.
There are many official drop-off outlets within Navan or contact Johnstown Tidy Towns.
Authorised Collectors https://www.nwcpo.ie/permitsearch.aspx
Charity Register https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/.../search-the-register...
Bridge Weeding
Volunteers continue to manually tackle unwanted weeds without resorting to chemicals.
In preparation for Bike Week 2021 they need more help to clear the main roads and cycle paths.
Thirsty Plants
If you use plastic drinks bottles then the Tidy Towns group will show you how to use them to water your garden plants more quickly and efficiently.
Flowers for Johnstown
Beechmount Garden Centre donated 100's of Geraniums and Lobelia plants to the Tidy Towns group and all are used within the day by residents groups.
Wild Colours
Near the southern entrance of the Johnstown People's Park, Metges Road, the wildflowers planted by the Tidy Towns group has now erupted in colour and is attracting pollinators.
Keeping People Safe
"As our communities open back up, it is important we remain vigilant and keep our guard up to fight the spread of the virus within our community.
To help with this, Smiths SuperValu are donating cases of sanitisers to Johnstown Tidy Towns who will distribute these to those who need it in our community.
Stay Safe. "
10 Locations
One-third of the Sunflower Trail locations are now growing 80 plants as part of Johnstown Tidy Towns Summer SunflowerTrail.
60th Sunflower Planted
Volunteers at Athlumeny Hall planted the 60th sunflower within the Johnstown Tidy Towns Summer Trail.
Cycle Lane Cleaned
Dave and Ed from Navan Cycle Initiative help Johnstown Tidy Towns to clean Bothar Sion's cycle lane of weeds.
Enthusiastic gardeners
Students at St Mary's Special School in Old Johnstown Village planted out Sunflowers to join the Johnstown Tidy Towns Summer Trail. When the school returns in August the flowers should be in full bloom.
Edible Coffee Cups
Taylor's Coffee Shack now offers customers edible coffee cups.
Pop in and try the bonus snack with your drink.
Growing Long
The verge bank at Spire View Lawns is being managed by residents to benefit wildlife. Neatly mowed around its perimeter the natural wildflowers are starting to appear. The intention is not to mow the area until late autumn and only once a year. The grass should start to die off as the soil's nutrients are depleted to be replaced with a natural native wildflower meadow. It's a long process but it should reap huge benefits for biodiversity.
Planting for Pollinators
A fantastic pollinator friendly alternative to having a grass verge is to remove the grass and sow wildflowers like the resident in Spire View Lawn.
Please purchase only 'Native Irish Wildflower Seeds'. You'll find them online such as bloomingnative.ie
Sunflower Trail Begins
The first of the Johnstown Tidy Towns Sunflowers were planting by Spire View Lawn residents.
Over the coming weeks they plan to plant at 29 sites to form their Sunflower Trail.
Weeding Progress
Johnstown Tidy Towns continue their work to maintain the main roads without weedkiller.
Meet with them this Thursday 6:30pm outside the Johnstown Shopping Centre.
Flower Display Returns
This year Johnstown Tidy Towns have created a pollinator- friendly display on St Martha's Bridge.
Included amongst the few bedding plants you'll find Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Chives, and Strawberries!
80% of the display will be replanted to extend the display at Athlumney Hall, Metges Road in Autumn.
They already have plans for next year with 100% pollinator plants and 100% reuse.
New bollards are not working
We confirmed for ourselves this morning that the newly installed barriers do not prevent delivery vehicles from parking on the pavement, and next to the pedestrian crossing, outside the Johnstown Shopping Centre.
Clean-Up Continues
Weeds that would otherwise be sprayed with poisonous chemicals continue to be removed manually by Johnstown Tidy Towns Volunteers.
They report that 90% of the pavements have now had at least one visit removing in excess of 10 wheelbarrow loads of weeds.
School Garden
Ard Ri Primary School increased its planting with a donation from Johnstown Tidy Towns.
Clean Edge Resumes
In the fine weatherJohnstown Tidy Towns have resumed the edging of verges along the main roads to remove the need for the Council to use weedkiller.
Read about their project in our article here.
Leave Only Footprints
With the fine weather and outdoors appealing to everyone please take your litter home with you.
Keep Johnstown clean and safe for everyone to enjoy.
Slow Down
6 speed tables were installed at the end of May to slow traffic in Old Johnstown Village.
Spare Garden Plants
Johnstown Tidy Towns want to hear from you if you have any unwanted garden plants or even trees.
2 large silver birch trees were today rehomed at The Boyne estate lawn.
Tidy Towns 2021
Having been cancelled last year due to the Pandemic the Tidy Towns Competition officially returns this year.
Pollinator Map
Johnstown Tidy Towns have today started adding their work in Johnstown to the National Pollinator Plan Map.
Surely there are more sites within the Navan area going unrecognised for the hard work many are doing: bee friendly private gardens, weed killer and pesticide free areas, bug hotels, delayed green cutting, growing long grass, wildflower stretches, tree planting...... so many things. Register your work here
If you live within the Johnstown area message the JTT group to have public areas added.
World Bee Day 2021
The weather might not be so kind for us to be outdoors today but it is an opportunity to learn more about our Bees and how you can help them.
Visit https://pollinators.ie/media/world-bee-day-2021/ for more information and live events.
Stop Public Weed Killer Use
How many bees have we saved from poisonous Weedkiller so far?
JTT volunteers continue their work to manually remove the weeds normally sprayed with Weedkiller by the Council. The 3km milestone has been reached without the use of chemicals.
Biodiversity Week
Find out more about Wildflowers, Butterflies, Bees, Bats and so much more with information events celebrating National Biodiversity Week 2021
LMFM Report On Environment Project
Johnstown Tidy Towns discuss their Stop Weedkiller Action Project on air with our local LMFM radio station.
Anti-Social HotSpots
Cllr Alan Lawes reports:
After consulting with many residents in the Johnstown area over a long period of time a number of areas were identified as having problems with repeated anti-social behaviour.
Thanks to our community Garda Sabrina Murray for listening to the communities concerns and passing on the areas in question to the District Officer in Navan Garda station.
Particular attention will now be given to these areas on all future patrols.
Ring 999 for anti-social behaviour issues rather than Navan Garda station since all calls are logged.
Johnstown's Sunflower Trail makes Headlines
Johnstown Tidy Towns vision for a trail of sunflowers this summer makes headlines in this week's Meath Chronicle.
Clean-Up Continues
Tidy Towns continue their battle with weeds without using chemicals along the School Approach Road.
In describing their reasons for applying traditional methods they state that any chemicals be it weedkiller, vinegar, or salt will all wash into and poison the freshwater River Boyne.
Please follow their example and avoid unnecessary use of chemicals.
Clean Sweep
Weeds and paths cleared along Metges Road today by Johnstown Tidy Towns. Determined to see that weedkiller is not required to maintain the paths they're calling on volunteers to help.
Plans Grow for a Johnstown Sunflower Trail
Discover where the trail is heading, who's involved, and the underlying reason why a Sunflower Trail is so important to Johnstown Tidy Towns.
More Seed Sowing
Johnstown Tidy Towns complete the wildflower sowing at the Metges Road entry to The Boyne, Millbrook, and SpireView area.
Football Returns To The Peoples Park
With a great sense of pride and excitement members of Johnstown FC together with community volunteers cleaned up the park ready for their first training session.
Great to see the community support this facility.
Navan Outreach
4 homeless people in Navan were last night supported with food and essentials by Johnstown Tidy Town's Support Service.
School Supports Seeds
St Stephen's National School offered support to Johnstown Tidy Towns with space to germinate their 500+ sunflowers seeds.
Students will water the seedlings until it's time to plan them at the the end of May and create the Johnstown Sunflower Trail
Food Hampers Continue
For over 12mths the Johnstown Tidy Towns volunteers have continued to support families in food poverty with weekly food hampers.
Contact them if you would like to help them make deliveries every Saturday to the local community.
2nd Use For Spent Compost.
The JTT ask you for your old used compost.
'No matter what you use as plant pots if you want to maintain healthy happy plants you either need to re-pot them into bigger pots every year or to at least replace one-third of the existing compost.
BUT don't throw the spent compost away, WE NEED IT !!!!
Message us and we'll use it around the bases of public trees as a mulch to help stop the temptation for people to use weedkillers.'
Budding Young Gardners
1st year students at Colaiste Na Mi Secondary School reinvigorated the front of the school with an array of plants and flowers.
Johnstown Sunflower Trail
Johnstown Tidy Towns are proposing to host a series of summer sunflower displays connected via a trail through the neighbourhood and are asking for your help to find locations.
Duped
Johnstown Tidy Towns brought to our attention the marketing con that is duping gardeners, who are keen to help Irish biodiversity, into spreading not only non native species but flowers that are not 'Wild'.
Read the article produced by Pollinators.ie and be careful what you sow in your gardens.
Natural Weed Mat
Johnstown Tidy Towns are seeking your old spent compost, send them a message if you have some.
Spent compost is a great mulch to retain ground moisture and suppress weeds around trees, plants and even signposts.
It's a free alternative to using weedkiller. 📝Read this months article about "What's wrong with using Weedkiller?"
Disappointing Find
Despite their best efforts to remove litter from our streets and trails the constant flow of litter persists. It is disappointing since these are the streets hundreds walk daily and litter is a blight to everyones enjoyment.
Please take litter home with you and offer to help by collecting it as you walk.
#WildAboutSwifts
Navan is home to almost 60 swift nests but BirdWatch Ireland reports a 40% drop in the number of swift colonies nationwide since 2008.
If you'd like to learn more Wild About Navan are hosting a free webinar with Lynda Huxley 7.30pm Wednesday 14th April.
We'll be watching it on the family TV screen and looking for tips on how we can see swifts in our neighbourhood.
Tulip Ring
Many of the Johnstown Tidy Towns Spring Bulbs have appeared. Students returning to the Johnstown Campus will see the tulip ring on the roundabout.
If you've ideas and the energy then contact Johnstown Tidy Towns about developing this area into a feature.
Now that our local trees are regaining their leaves it's time to continue the Johnstown Tidy Towns quest to record what we have in our neighbourhood.
You can help by identifying the trees on your street, in your garden or along your walks.
Egg Request
Easter Eggs and other goodies are wanted for families living in food poverty within Co Meath.
To donate contact Cllr Alan Lawes on 0851757216 or arrange to drop off at 15 Boyne View, Johnstown Navan.
National Tree Week
Tree Council of Ireland will be celebrating all things TREE this week. They are hosting virtual events with details on their website
Navan Orchard Proposal
Wild About Navan are offering residents and estate groups the opportunity to increase biodiversity within 5km radius of Navan.
' This project is a combination of three biodiversity actions outlined in the upcoming Navan Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP):
Creating a dispersed orchard;
Planting native trees; and,
Promoting the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. '
Cycle projects for Navan in 2021
Navan Cycling Initiative have produced a review of Navan's proposed cycle network.
Clean Up Our Streets
Volunteers from Johnstown Tidy Towns call for more assistance from the community as they continue to collect full bags of litter from our main roads.
5 bags have been collected in as many days with the 2 featured being from Bothar Sion despite there being 3 public waste bins nearby.
How is this waste getting here when current Covid restrictions only allow the public to leave home for exercise and essential travel?
Johnstown Tidy Towns has made an offer to the Council if they stop using weedkiller on Johnstown's main roads.
Now that spring is revealing signs of new growth our attention returns to our gardens. We highlight the 'elephant in the room' where a significant piece of our housing estates has the most to offer biodiversity but does it have any chance of success?
Plastic Bottle Ban
We're delighted to see local clubs planning ahead for the return to sports and especially when the can implement new policies that benefit our environment.
Walterstown GFC have now banned plastic drinks bottles in an effort to reduce plastic waste in the community.
Please bring your own reusable bottles.
Ongoing Support
Johnstown Tidy Towns provide an outreach service to the Homeless in Navan.
Today they report that whilst Meath County Council has been able to keep up with supplying emergency accommodation to those found homeless over winter, unfortunately 2 individuals have slipped through the net and are back on the streets of Navan.
County Meath does not have a Wet Hostel to accommodate individuals with alcohol, or other substance issues, and some will therefore find themselves back sleeping rough on the streets of Navan.
The JTT continue to offer their support service.
Road Repairs
Since its last repairs in Sept 2019 the Johnstown Roundabout road surface has again becoming scarred. Today the Council carried out on the spot repairs and we understand that a more significant resurfacing will take place at a later date.
New Shop Coming Soon.
The newly erected sign at the former swimming pool announces that Spun Cycles & Spun Run will be the new tenant below Feel Fit Gym at the Johnstown Shopping Centre. The site had been dormant for several years and we look forward to seeing them open and wish them good luck.
You can check out what they offer in their Website, Facebook Page and their first outlet in Trim which opened in December 2015.
You may remember Graham Macken, one of the store owners, made 250 circuits of the Hill of Tara last July to raise funds for The Alzheimer Society of Ireland and the local Alzheimer day centre in Navan.
Free training for Member Groups
Meath Public Participation Network are running a range of FREE online courses over the coming weeks to support the work of our members and build the capacity of groups in the network.
The courses are free to PPN member groups and will be delivered by experienced trainers from Social Justice Ireland and the Carmichael Centre.
The classes cover a wide range of areas: from finance, to communication and what the PPN is itself. The mix of subjects could help your group with new ideas and guidance.
Green Kilometre Scheme.
Johnstown Tidy Towns could use your help to join in and maintain the several km of roadsides throughout our local neighbourhood.
The scheme invites individuals/groups to choose approximately a kilometre (or longer) stretch of road/loop in their area. The group or individual would then commit to maintaining the chosen stretch over the course of the year.
The council can supply some native trees, litter pickers, bags and gloves to all those participating and if you wish we can arrange for an adviser (when restrictions allow) to visit to give advice in relation to planting, care of heritage features etc.
IDA Clean Up
'Disgusting' was the term used by the volunteer litter picking the IDA paths.
It's a rare requirement for Johnstown Tidy Towns to litter pick the area but the number of dog poo bags casually thrown into the hedge by carless owners will now required a second visit to remove.
Please take ALL litter home and don't spoil the area for walkers.
Air Quality
Navan Cycling Initiative have updated their report on Navan air quality with 2 more Secondary Schools involved via their Green Flag Awards.
Poor Score
The Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) final survey of 2020 reported Navan as being 'Littered' and below EU norms. Navan fell to 34th position in the 37 towns surveyed by An Taisce.
Johnstown Tidy Towns concurred that since the Covid Pandemic discarded facemasks, drinks containers and dog poo are now the most common form of litter in Johnstown.
Read the IBAL overview and the Navan Report.
Tree Works
We're not sure how severe the tree thinning is going to be on the approach road to Kilcarn Bridge off Metges Road.
It did look fairly drastic today as the huge crane lifted a very old truck from the ground.
Lights On
There is a country wide suggestion encouraging Towns to leave their Christmas Lights On throughout January to Boost Community Spirit. We've yet to hear if Navan Town Centre will follow suit.
These tree ring lights on the Bailis Downs Green, sponsored by Johnstown Tidy Towns, are intended to stay on throughout the winter dark evenings for similar reasons. We're also hoping that the community will help sponsor more lights next winter.
Winter Wonderland
We've been waiting for a long time to see the Athlumney Riverside Trail in snow.
It was very picture-perfect this morning for a brisk short walk.
Navan Cycle Network Priority List
Navan Cycling Initiative have produced a wish list of the cycle lanes most needed to make cycling in Navan safer.
See more at navancycling.ie