MARINE NOTICE No 34 of 2019
Erne System
New Trial Initiative by Fermanagh & Omagh District Council – Visitor Litter
Collection Points
Waterways Ireland wishes to advise masters and owners of vessels of the
following notice by Fermanagh & Omagh District Council for a new initiative
in waste management which relates to the Erne System.
New Trial Initiative – Visitor Litter Collection Points
Over the past few years, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has invested
heavily in the provision of extensive waste disposal facilities across the
district to protect and sustainably manage the environment. This provision
has also been designed to encourage residents of and visitors to the
district to dispose and recycle their waste through the appropriate
facilities. Despite this investment, the Council spent £1.76 million last
year in providing Street Cleansing and dealing with litter and fly-tipping.
Unfortunately, the Council has experienced in recent years, particularly
during spells of good weather, significant increases in littering and
fly-tipping of rubbish at most of our prominent beauty spots.
The litter bins provided across the District for the disposal of litter i.e.
small items of waste was not designed for, nor has the capacity to deal with
the disposal of commercial (business) waste or household waste. A
significant number of sites are unfortunately frequently abused by members
of the Public with some sites requiring servicing up to three times daily to
remove litter and rubbish. This places strain in the existing Street
Cleansing resources and budget as well as creating a negative impact and
impression of the local area.
Visitors to our District such as boat users and motor homes generate waste
that should be brought home for disposal via the household kerbside bin
collection service or to any of the recycling centres across the district.
Visitors using hire boats or motor homes should return waste to the hire
company to dispose of through its commercial waste disposal arrangements.
The Council supports and encourages the ‘Leave No Trace’ principle, however
the reality faced by the Council is that this principle is not accepted by
all the public. Litter bins therefore need to be provided and if a litter
bin is full, members of the public should take their litter home to prevent
it from creating a mess and posing a health risk to residents and wildlife.
The Council also recognises that some of our visitors who do not have access
to the existing household collection or Civic Amenity facilities, require a
disposal point which has the capacity to deal with the significant waste
generated particularly over spells of good weather and Bank Holiday
periods.
Working in partnership with Waterways Ireland, the Council has developed and
proposed a trial scheme Visitor Litter Collection Points scheme.
This trial scheme proposes the installation of three collection point
locations at Bellanaleck Marina, Lakeland Forum and Round O park. These
collection points will each contain 10 bins, 5 for recyclable waste and 5
for general waste. The bins are contained within a steel unit and signage
will be displayed on the outside of the units to indicate their purpose.
https://www.iwai.ie/forum/file.php?1,file=5559
New Visitor Litter Disposal Point
It is hoped that these dedicated collection points will collate the disposal
of visitor litter to both assist existing resources and reduce the amount of
litter and waste left behind at remote sites.
If successful, FODC plan to roll out the introduction of additional ‘Visitor
Litter Collection Points’ at busy tourist locations throughout the district.
Waterways Ireland encourages all users of the Erne System to co-operate with
this important initiative by adhering to the Council’s advice set out in the
notice above.
P Harkin
Inspector of Navigation
23 April 2019
087-9852324