Landowners and the authorities in Co Wicklow have come together in a major new anti-waste initiative to tackle dumping and litter problems in mountain areas.
The Pilot Uplands Waste/Amenity Partnership Project promises a same-day removal service for burnt-out cars, a lo-call telephone hotline for reporting fly-tipping and other waste problems and the use of night-vision CCTV cameras to catch people dumping in rural areas.
Active promotion of good environmental behaviour, heightened public awareness of the problem and the deployment of greater resources to enforce litter laws will also form part of the initiative.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, who announced the initiative last night, said it would unite all interests, including landowners, local authorities, Coillte and recreational users, in a single, co-ordinated response to the "unacceptable and inexcusable" behaviour of a few.
"People are fed up with the criminally irresponsible minority who are destroying our countryside; they're tired of picking up other people's dirt," he said.
"We are trialling this scheme in the Wicklow uplands and expect that it will be rolled out in other sensitive areas like the west where similar problems are sadly very common," he said.
Co Wicklow has been blighted by a number of waste scandals in recent years, particularly in relation to the discovery of unlicensed landfills. According to Colin Murphy, director of Wicklow Uplands Council, the problem of dumping in mountainous areas has got worse as the charges for domestic waste removal have increased.
"This is finally a good news story about waste in Wicklow. For the first time all the main players are working together towards a solution."
He acknowledged that at present anyone reporting a litter problem tends to be "pushed from one council department to another, and between local authorities".
Mr Murphy said that while education would form part of the initiative it would probably take "a generation" to change attitudes on waste.
From Easter, when the project officially begins, complaints will be centrally co-ordinated and tackled using a dedicated litter recovery vehicle.
Mr Roche's department is providing €350,000 in funding for the project, with another €50,000 coming from local authorities in Wicklow and Dublin.
