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Bags of household rubbish dumped in Bandon ... and Bantry ... and Coolmain

May 21st, 2019 1:11 PM

By Kieran O'Mahony

The fly-tipping near Bantry marina

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The scourge of litter continues to blight West Cork, with several bags of household rubbish dumped recently at Coolmain beach near Kilbrittain

THE scourge of litter continues to blight West Cork, with several bags of household rubbish dumped recently at Coolmain beach near Kilbrittain.

Local man Oliver O’Brien had been taking his regular walk on the beach on a Sunday when he came across the dumped rubbish bags, which he thinks were thrown from the road above.

‘This area of the beach is only accessible when the tide is out, as it’s between rocks,’ said Oliver.

‘I walked that same area the day before and it was clear of any rubbish so it had to have been dumped sometime between that Saturday evening and Sunday morning.’

The dumped bags of rubbish were torn and contained household rubbish like dog and cat food tins, plastic food wrapping and newspapers.

As a regular walker on Coolmain Beach, Oliver has taken to bringing a bag with him to pick up washed up plastic bottles and other rubbish. 

That Sunday evening he returned to the beach with a friend and armed with bin liners they picked up all the rubbish – some of which had been ripped open by birds – and took it to the local garda station for inspection. ‘We were disgusted that someone would do this, especially on such a beautiful stretch of beach,’ added Oliver.

Meanwhile, in Bandon, the Tidy Towns Group recently posted a picture on their Facebook page of dumped rubbish in the town centre.

Ironically the bags of rubbish were actually dumped under a ‘Stop Dumping’ sign at the junction of Bridge Street and McSwiney Quay.

‘CCTV footage is currently being accessed and checked to identify the culprits. This area was being monitored and a prosecution will result, thanks to CCTV that had been placed recently for this purpose,’ said the post.

‘Several more CCTV systems have been recently installed in and around the Bandon area in litter blackspots.’

Meanwhile, the ongoing problem of litter dumped at Bantry harbour has once again been highlighted by a frustrated reader. 

This is a litter blackspot with both bags of rubbish and loose litter blighting the prominent spot in the tourist town, near the start of the Beicin walk. There’s also a build-up of rubbish behind relatively newly installed concrete blocks in a wall here. There were also bags left under the ‘no dumping signs’ at the nearby recycling area on Sunday last.

When contacted, the County Council said it doesn’t ‘comment or provide details on individual litter or illegal dumping detections, complaints and  investigations.’

‘The Environment directorate deploy litter wardens and waste enforcement officers across all municipal districts including West Cork, which includes Bantry town and environs to inspect incidents of littering and fly-tipping. 

‘Once the inspection is complete and evidence gathered, the incident is referred on to the appropriate Council directorate for clean up,’ the local authority said. ‘As always, Cork County Council encourages the public to report littering and illegal dumping by contacting the Council’s anti-litter unit at  021 4285417 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri) or call the 24hr Environmental Complaints Line on 1850 365 121.’ 

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