This was the scene over the weekend as dozens of tyres were dumped on Slieve Gullion mountain in south Armagh.
It’s yet another example of the costly fly-tipping blighting the district.
Last year, Newry, Mourne and Down Council spent approximately £2million keeping streets and roads clean – much of which was spent cleaning up after these sort of incidents.
Sinn Féin councillor Mickey Larkin said: “We welcome day-trippers, not fly-tippers on Slieve Gullion. Dispose of your waste responsibly. I’ve reported this to the Council for lifting as soon as possible.”
Unfortunately, dumping in this area of beauty is not an uncommon occurrence.
The same councillor has raised the issue on numerous occasions before – including one incident whereby a hot tub was chucked out on the roadside.
Last year, Council increased its waste management scale prices across the board by 6%.
And fears were raised about a potential spike in fly-tipping as a result.
“With any increase in charges, I feel that you will probably see an increase in illegal dumping and fly-tipping,” said Alliance rep, Jill Truesdale.
COuncil also increased fly-tipping fines by 400%. The sustainability and environment committee signed off on setting the maximum fixed penalty notice at £400, a rise from £80, back in November.
Speaking at the time, Slieve Gullion UUP cllr, David Taylor said: “There are certain black-spots in the district that are recurring problems for this type of issue. I know in my own area I am reporting the issue on a regular basis of fly-tipping spots.
“I understand how difficult it can be to catch anybody involved in this because of the lack of evidence. But do we have any figures for the clean up costs associated with this type of activity?
“On occasions it can be quite serious in terms of the level of rubbish that is dumped, sometimes £400 seems a small price to pay for that type of crime, particularly when the clean up cost could be considerably more. As the people doing the dumping are probably saving themselves quite a bit of money fly-tipping.”
A council officer responded: “The recommendation before the committee is around giving fixed penalty notices on the information that you find when the offence has already been confirmed.
“What we are saying is this is considerably more of a fine when dealing with large scale issues of dumping that we would regularly be investigating across the district.”
