Newry Armagh Sinn Féin Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Councillor's disappointment at amount of litter being strewn on roads

Published: 11 February, 2010

Sinn Fein Councillor Colman Burns has expressed his disappointment and anger at the amount of litter that is strewn along many of the roads in our district. He singled out one road in particular, the Newry to Crossmaglen road, which, he says, has been particularly badly hit.

Councillor Burns said, " Over the past number of weeks it has become very noticeable that our road verges have become an unsightly mess with all kinds of debris from tin cans to plastic bottles, papers and take-away cartons all littering the ditches and hedges along most of our roads.

From Fords Cross heading towards Newry it is particularly bad with black bin bags full of domestic waste lying close to Cashel lakes. These lakes form part of our 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' but obviously the person who would fling the contents of their bin along the roadside would have little thought or care for things like that.

Over the recent bad weather, the Council bin lorries had difficulty negotiating some of the rural roads and, as a result, some of the bins were not emptied in time. This is absolutely no excuse, however, for dumping your rubbish on the side of the road. It is in all our interests that our area is clean and tidy and most people take a great pride in keeping our district clean. However, as usual, there are the mindless few who care little for the environment we live in.

Increasing numbers of tourists are visiting our district annually and for that we are very grateful. There are tremendous benefits to be gained economically for our area if this trend continues. It is imperative, therefore, that we show the true beauty of our district by discouraging the littering of the mindless few.

We, as councillors, will continue to ensure that the Council lives up to their responsibilities but it is up to us all to ensure that the selfish serial offenders, who continue to destroy our beauty spots and road verges with their litter, recognise that there is absolutely no support or toleration for their actions."

Councillor Burns concluded by congratulating all those Community groups and activists who voluntarily keep their areas litter free. " Any area who wants to organise a litter pick can contact myself and I will organise Council support and assistance and help out in whatever way possible"