THERE have been calls for stronger enforcement measures to taken against those responsible for the continual dumping of waste in Derry’s city centre.
In March of this year, officers from the council’s Enforcement, Environmental Health and Waste sections, supported by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), visited businesses in the William Street, Waterloo Place and Upper Strand Road areas in response to issues raised regarding waste storage and collection arrangements within that area.
That was followed by a major clean-up of an alleyway in the William Street area that has been regularly plagued with illegal dumping, which has now built up again.
The Derry News spoke to one delivery driver in the area last week who said that he did not wish to enter the alleyway due what he described as the ‘health hazard’ posed by rotting food and vermin.
The issued was raised at a recent meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Environment and Regeneration Committee, where Sinn Fein’s Sandra Duffy said more needs to be done to make ‘statutory agencies’ aware of their responsibilities in regard to the issue of dumping.
Cllr Duffy then proposed that council now hold a seminar, inviting ‘all interested bodies, including local businesses’, to discuss the impact illegal dumping is having on the city.
“Some of these alleyways are eyesores,” she added.
Meanwhile, the UUP’s Derek Hussey agreed that more needs to be done in terms of education and ‘spreading responsibility to various organisations’.
“Some of the things you see is not making this district look attractive,” he added, before stating that council now ‘needs to a bit more stronger on enforcement’.
Commenting, Conor Canning, Head of Environment with council, told the meeting that the NIEA had carried out a further inspection of William Street and the Strand Road, before adding that it was looking to ‘launch a major new initiative in terms of waste’.
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