June News
What's Happening Locally in brief.
Local News
Final call for nominations!
Navan County Councillor Alan Lawes is seeking nominations for where his 2022 Discretionary Fund should be donated. This will be put to Public Vote in July.
Athlumney Abbey Sunflowers
A dozen flowers planted by JTT volunteers will hopefully grow tall enough to be seen from Bothar Sion
Read MoreSummer Meadow Weeding
Creating summer meadows that have kerb appeal means removing aggressive weeds such as dock. When the wind and rain flattern the grass these are easy to spot and remove before they drop their seeds.
Read MoreSteps Clean Up
The JTT appeal for volunteers earlier in the week resulted in the Spireview Steps getting a thorough clean from litter.
Now we need a regular clean-up to maintain this litter hotspot.
St Martha's Bridge Flowers
This year's display of 30 planters was installed by JTT volunteers and they are slightly different from previous years. Created by Navan Garen Centre these flowers are all highly attractive to pollinators and if you get up close the smell is amazing.
Read MoreChestnut Court Sunflowers
A dozen flowers were planted along the approach road into Old Johnstown Village today
St Mary's Special School Sunflowers
Sunflowers are prepped and ready for students to plant along the school's fence line.
Read MoreSunflower School Team
Students and staff have shown us their amazing 'Green Fingers' producing one-quarter of this year's Johnstown Sunflower Trail.
Pictured are students from Ard Ri CNS.
Read MoreSunflower Planting Begins
This year's Johnstown Sunflower Trail planting got off to an enthusiastic start with staff at Utmost, in the IDA, not only joining the trail but being the first to plant.
Read MoreKerb Appeal
The roadside edge at Spireview Parade gets a thorough cleaning of weeds to improve the presentation of the site.
What's Going On?
Over a dozen sites along Bothar Sion had graffiti removed by volunteers. This is after JTT volunteers removed several instances days earlier.
Sunflower School Team
We offer a huge thank you to students and staff at our 4 local schools for growing hundreds of sunflowers for this year's Johnstown Sunflower Trail.
Pictured are students from St Stephens NS.
Read MoreEntry Display Offer
The 4 estates along North Metges Road do not have flower displays around their estate name entry marker stones. JTT have made an offer to help them start their own.
Sunflower Team
JTT Volunteers are starting to collect hundreds of saplings from our local schools. Some are being transplanted into pots for transporting around the neighbourhood ready for planting out.
Read MoreSomeone's got a new paint pen!
No sooner than JTT clear graffiti that it returns. It's a Navan-wide issue with tags by the same person appearing everywhere but why would someone think it's cool to lay claim to electrical boxes, bus stops, lamposts, and street signs?
Abbaesque
25th of June at the Ardboyne Hotel.
Tickets are on sale now and can be bought from the hotel reception
046 902 3119 info@ardboynehotel.com
Wildflower Entrance
Lovely to see the small lawn at the entrance to St Mary's Special School host oxeye daisies.
Chemical Free Weeding
Only 50m more to go and then all of Metges Road will have had it's first pavement weed clearing without using chemicals. Bothar Sion is not far behind but the school approach road is in need of volunteers.
Weeds or Flowers?
It's a mystery why some roadside flowers are considered as being weeds whilst others are desired and tolerated. Neither should be grown where they are not wanted but who wants to remove the 'pretty' ones.
A lawn without an owner?
A few minutes spent by a JTT volunteer with a lawnmower has quickly improved the presentation of the Metges Road bus stop outside the vacant property.
Wild About Swifts
Join Wild About Navan and Swift conservation extraordinaire Lynda Huxley (SCI) for an evening all about one of Meath’s most fascinating animals, a bird that makes a perilous journey home to reunite with the same partner at their nest site every year – the Swift!
This is a free event in the Navan Library, on Tuesday 21st June at 7 pm. Register here: https://forms.gle/peh3TPr1tNo4F8D58
Athlumney Centre Flattened
It didn't take long for all signs of any past retailers to be removed.
The shopping centre was once home to Johnstown ABC , Mario's, the Dragon Inn, The Pit Stop/O'Dwyer's bar, restaurant & offlicence, Tara Barbers, Spar shop, a butchers, a betting shop, and even a casino.
Lawn Biodiversity
JTT Signage went up today to highlight 4 Johnstown sites where areas of estate lawns are 'growing wild' to support biodiversity. With the help of local residents these sites are on their way to becoming summer meadows.
Read MoreClear The Clutter
As part of MCC Green Km initiative Johnstown Tidy Towns made a request to remove the two 'out of date' and very large National Development Plan signs at the Bothar Sion bus stop.
Weed Killer Free
In a bid to persued the IDA not to use weed killer on the Bothar Sion fence line JTT volunteers neatly trimmed along its length.
Read MoreAlliums Appear
The circle planting effect hasn't quite worked on the School roundabout with only half the allium bulbs growing into flowers.
Read MoreFood Hampers
JTT volunteers deliver food hampers to families in need living in the Navan neighbourhood.
Read MoreMetges Road Meadow
The first signs of something being different appear on the Chestnut & Elm estate lawn in Johnstown Wood. This is the start of the JTT's pilot project to create a summer meadow.
Parade Meadow
The proposal to form a summer meadow at Spireview Parade started to take shape.
Pavement Weeding
North Metges Road has its first complete weed removal as part of the Green Km Initiative.
Petrol Station Verge
JTT volunteers cut the perimeter to enhance the north Metges Road verge presentation.
Verge Cutting
Meath County Council aims to cut verges every 4 weeks but the JTT needed to distinguish between grass and intentional wildflower planting.
Request to replace signs
JTT makes requests to MCC to replace 2 street signs on Bothar Sion which is acted upon within days and the sign now gleams after cleaning.
Navan County Councillor Alan Lawes is seeking nominations for where his 2022 Discretionary Fund should be donated. This will be put to Public Vote in July.
'No Mow May' is replaced by 'Don't Mow Yet'
We're all more aware of Climate Change and we're also waking up to the issues of Biodiversity loss.
Letting your grass lawn grow longer between cuts is no longer a sign of laziness but is a conscious decision to help support biodiversity. You are not completely off the hook since it still needs to be presented well and cut and cleared every 4 to 6 weeks.
The Council plan to cut our verges every 4 weeks.
Athlumeny Centre Has Now Gone
Demolition of the last wall took place as May ended bringing two decades to an end. Who would now remember that it once hosted ABC Boxing Club, O'Dwyers Bar and Restaurant, the Pit Stop Bar, a hairdresser, butchers, Spar, Mario's and the Dragon Inn takeaways, and even a Casino,
42 apartments are on their way together with what appears to be two takeaways and a community space.
Summer Meadows
Not every estate lawn is played on by children. Grass lawns are the most expensive plants that we can host and Johnstown has 1/4 million sqm of public green spaces!
With the cost of fuel increasing and if there are no funds to pay for their maintenance from residents then hosting summer meadows is a great option.
Johnstown Tidy Towns are expecting to pilot three areas this year: Spireview Lawn, Spireview Parade, and Elm/Chestnut Lawn in Johnstown Wood.
Signs will be erected in the coming days.
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