‘Countryside is not a rubbish dumping ground’

RURAL dwellers called last night for a major Government crackdown on roadside dumping.

Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Countryside — representing non-farming rural dwellers — said the Government must get tough on people who drive into rural areas to dump their rubbish.

“A walk along any rural road indicates clearly that thousands of drivers are using the countryside as a dumping ground for their car rubbish,” said IFA chairman David Wilkinson.

His association has designed roadside warning signs it wants to see erected in rural areas.

He also called on Environment Minister John Gormley to pursue offenders and increase fines to protect the countryside. And he appealed to road users to bring their rubbish home.

But if the illegal practice continues, he said, IFA Countryside would be left with no choice but to pursue Government to impose much more serious fines on offenders.

Mr Wilkinson said car manufactures and packaging producers have a vital role to play. Soft drink bottles, cans, cigarettes and take-away rubbish are among the most common items dumped from cars, he said.

“The producers of this type of packaging have to take much more responsibility for advising their customers to avoid littering the countryside.

“There should be a clear message — ‘take your empties home’ — on all packaging and all service stations and forecourts should have a consistent message to all drivers,” Mr Wilkinson said.

Car manufacturers also need to do more to provide proper in-car waste disposal facilities, he said.

“Confectionery and food are consumed in cars and manufacturers need to recognise this and provide adequate and convenient waste storage,” Mr Wilkinson said.

“Dumping rubbish from cars is leaving a serious scar on rural Ireland and diminishes the good work done by voluntary tidy town groups and over 50,000 farmers participating in the Rural Environment Protection Scheme.”

Cork IFA spokesman, Sean Clarke, said the IFA had raised this and other issues with Cork’s county manager, and with general election candidates in the run-up to the election.

He suggested that a system be put in place to track what happens to the waste produced by households which opt out of public waste collection systems.