Award for Warden keeping town clean

Tidy NI Local Hero Garnett McConnell receives his award from Council chairman Olive Mercer along with Council staff David Lindsay, Barry Patience, and Eric Morton, with Councillors Brendan Curran and Jim McElroy. INBLK4713-LOCAL

This prestigious award demonstrates the high level of commitment and motivation the council worker has displayed to his job since he joined the street cleaning team some 18 months ago.

Garnett works Tuesday to Saturday and his typical duties include picking litter, removing dog mess, graffiti and posters as well as controlling weeds in and around the town centre.

Chairman Councillor Olive Mercer and Chair of the Environmental Services Committee Councillor Brendan Curran joined senior members of Banbridge District Council at the Civic Building to congratulate Garnett on his award and exemplary performance.

At the award presentation in the Chairman’s room, Garrnet said he was “really pleased and surprised by award from Tidy NI, especially because it covered the whole of Northern Ireland”. He also said he was “very pleased that the council had filled out an application and put his name forward”.

The local heroes award consists of a plaque, as well as vouchers for Dominoes who sponsored the awards. Garrnet has already redeemed one of his vouchers and said he “enjoyed the pizza and the taste of success”.

Barry Patience, Head of Technical Services explained: “Garnett has an immense work appetite and is continually being complemented by members of the public, businesses, and tourists, both verbally to himself and in writing to the council’s management.

“He is a very positive person who takes great pride in keeping Banbridge clean and tidy, and he is always keen to go the extra mile for the public in the town.

delighted

“By being on the streets each day and working late into the afternoon, he has made people, especially school children, aware of the importance of disposing of litter in the bins provided. We are delighted that his hard work has now been recognised by Tidy Northern Ireland.”

Garnett received praise for going above and beyond the call of duty as he is never short of coming up with ideas for more efficient ways to do the job. For example, the council recently purchased light weight carts at Garnett’s suggestion enabling him to carry all the tools needed for tasks such as litter picking and removing dog mess.