Illegal dumping at Fore beauty spot

A remote beauty spot in north Westmeath has become the latest spot to be defaced and vandalised by illegal dumping.

“Our quiet rural roads are being used late at night by people who do not care about the people living here or their own environment,” said Cllr Una D’Arcy.

“It’s a disgrace and whoever is doing this should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

“Such is the amount being dumped, and the type of rubbish, that I am wondering if people are paying to have their rubbish removed and thinking it’s being taken to a proper dump.

“This photograph was taken by one of my neighbours and she and her husband cleaned it up. They are a hard working farming family, they cannot have this being thrown into their fields at night to harm their animals.

 

Locals cleaned up

“They also are responsible people who are proud of their area, so they cleaned up someone else’s rubbish rather than have the place looking destroyed and rubbish breaking from the bags to become strewn across the hedgerows, ditches and trees.

“Fly-tipping, which is the term the council use for this activity, is illegal and anyone who dumps anything on land like this is committing an offence.

“The council’s litter control team can issue a fixed penalty fine and can be prosecuted.

“I would ask people to report it to the council either by calling 1800819000 or emailing customercare@westmeathcoco.ie.

“The team in the council work hard to address this issue and they will act if they have the information they need but to do that they need the help of the public.

“I will be requesting surveillance at this location and I will also be asking that we investigate and take action against anyone found illegally dumping.

“They need to immediately realise this will not be tolerated and its completely unacceptable.”