Council blocks DUP plan for mechanical beach cleaning

Summarised from Belfast Live's report · Updated 29 Oct, 21:09 · Archive

A council has blocked a DUP proposal to use mechanical equipment to clean beaches, which opponents said would damage biodiversity.

Ards and North Down Borough Council has blocked a mechanical beach cleaning plan proposed by the DUP. The plan would have introduced mobile machinery to wash down and clean beaches along the North Down and Ards Peninsula. Council officers had estimated the initial capital cost at approximately £125,000 for the equipment and recommended against its use, citing concerns about effects on biodiversity and the cost to ratepayers.

DUP Alderman Robert Adair argued that residents and tourists frequently raised concerns about beach cleanliness and maintenance, and that mechanical cleaning had previously been standard practice without negative effects. However, at the council's full monthly meeting on Wednesday 28 October, a UUP amendment was adopted proposing that more information be gathered from experts on the mechanical cleaning regime before a decision is made.

Read the report

• "Dangerous and expensive" mechanical beach cleaning plan blocked at council"Seaweed on a beach is not a sign of neglect, it is the way it is"Belfast Live · 29 Oct, 20:38

In this story: Ards and North Down Borough Council · DUP · UUP · Robert Adair · North Down · Ards Peninsula

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