Causeway Coast and Glens Council moves to tackle the ‘shameful’ practice of fly tipping around the Borough

It follows members’ endorsement, at an Environmental Service Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 14, of the the Waste and Contaminated Land Order, which allows authorised officers to fine fly tippers up to £400.

Alliance councillor Lee Kane welcomed the new measures, but said the council could not make “idle threats” of fines.

“I would like to see reports every six months,” Cllr Kane said. “And there is also an issue around evidence so I encourage the team to speak to Mid and East Antrim Borough Council about the use of CCTV.

“We know some of the hotspots for fly tipping are and we should also speak to the Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) around actions they can take to support us.”

DUP Alderman Aaron Callan said littering and fly tipping was “one of our biggest issues” and there was a “lack of clarity around roles and funding” from central government. He proposed bringing the issue to the council’s partnership panel for further discussion.

He added: “This is an ongoing issue where we’re given additional issues with no funding or resources to carry it out, so it’s basically central government passing the buck to us.”

“We also need general awareness, with a campaign around not littering. It’s shameful when you walk down the beach on a sunny day, just how much litter there is. It costs thousands every year for us to maintain that Blue Flag status and it’s not right to see so much rubbish, so we need to do more work to raise awareness and educate people.”

UUP Councillor Darryl Wilson said the council’s collection service, which allows for collection of bulky household waste for £5, was “good value for money” and should be advertised more.

SDLP Councillor Margaret-Anne McKillop said it was “soul destroying to see so much fly tipping across the borough” and suggested using social media to get the new enforcement measure out to the public.

Director of Environmental Services, Aidan McPeake, said council would carry out public relations to “get the message out we’re going to be proactive in catching offenders”.