Flytipping increases along Colebrooke River

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter this week, the angler, who has fished along the Colebrooke River for most of his life, commented that within the past number of years he has seen an increase in the amount of plastic waste along the river banks as a result of illegal flytipping.

An angler fishing on The Colebrooke River.

“Certainly within the past 10 years, there’s been an ever-increasing issue of illegal flytipping of predominantly black agricultural plastic and round bale netting, especially during our winter floods.

“I know most of the river well, and no matter which area of the Colebrooke I go to, there’s hardly a 20-yard stretch where plastics are absent,” he explained.

The angler went on to say that he believes that the main reason is that Fermanagh and Omagh District Council charge farmers to dispose of waste agricultural plastics at refuse sites when they bring it in and some do not want to avoid paying.

Fly tipping along the Colebrooke River.

“For responsible farmers, [this] shouldn’t be an issue, but there’s obviously some that would rather dump it in our rivers than pay for proper disposal,” said the angler.

He noted that as it’s only really anglers on the river bank, the issue of flytipping there doesn’t come to a lot of attention unless they highlight it.

Talking about the impact the dumping of agricultural plastics flytipping has on the area, the angler said: “I’m not sure if it has an overall effect on the ecology itself, but I could safely say that the round baling netting in particular, if there are birds in the trees, [they could] get caught in the net or even other animals.”

Fly tipping along the Colebrooke River.

He explained that on one occasion, a fellow angler was wading in the river, and felt the netting starting to tangle around his legs.

“He actually nearly went over in the water, it was like his legs were tied together and he couldn’t move. The flow in the water nearly pushed him over.

“He was lucky he was able to grab on to a branch,” said the angler.

Cleaning

The local community of the Colebrooke River area has in the past attempted to clean up the plastics.

The angler explained that even when cleaning a small section, near the village of Maguiresbridge, they collected enough plastic to fill a trailer.

Fly tipping along the Colebrooke River.

“The next year we did the same again in Maguiresbridge, and had 13 full bags. When you start cleaning up [the flytipping waste], the amount of it is unreal,” he told this newspaper.

In response to queries regarding the flytipping issue along the Colebrooke River, a spokesman for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council said: “The riverside path which is downstream of the main bridge in Maguiresbridge is litter-picked on a weekly programme.

“Council staff do not litter-pick the bank, nor enter the water to remove debris, due to health and safety considerations.

“Any flytipping or debris on land not in the ownership or maintenance responsibility of the Council is the responsibility of the landowner.

“Any debris in the watercourse channel that may restrict the free flow of water is the responsibility of the Rivers Agency.

“Instances of flytipping are investigated and where the perpetrator can be identified, enforcement officers will investigate and take formal action.

“To date, no fines have been issued to farmers for flytipping on the Colebrooke River over the past five years.”