A voluntary community scheme has been congratulated for its “magnificent” marine maintenance across County Armagh’s waste-filled waterways.
Lord Mayor of the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Alderman Stephen Moutray and the Chair of the Mid-Ulster District Council, Frances Burton visited the River Blackwater – which connects both council areas – to thank Blackwater Paddle Sports for their magnificent work clearing the marine litter along the river and Lough Neagh shore.
Paddy Little – litter pick officer for the club – explained that in the last 12 months they collected a whopping 1617 plastic bottles, 485 glass bottles, 161 tins, 127 footballs, 23 drums, three buckets, one tyre, one cone, three chairs,
one BBQ, 48kg of wood, 129kg plastic, 183kg of non-recyclables and three plastic ducks!
In their efforts, Blackwater Paddle Sports were supported by 47 different volunteers from both sides of the river and they will continue to litter pick every month to keep the River Blackwater in decent shape.
Club Chairperson Ryan McCrudden thanked Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and local businesses for sponsoring the litter picks and thanked both relevant departments at the Mid Ulster council and ABC Council for collecting and processing the recyclables after clean-ups on the river Blackwater and Lough Shore.
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