Landowner disgusted by dumping at field entrance

INDISCRIMINATE  A pile of garden waste and other rubbish dumped at the entrance to land along the N5 on the Westport to Castlebar road.

Anton McNulty

The dumping of garden waste at the entrance to a field along the N5 near Islandeady has been described as ‘disgusting’ by the landowner.
The waste, which included plants such as hydrangea and rhododendron, as well as some household rubbish including shoes, a carpet and a child’s car seat, were dumped at the entrance to fields close to the Derrada crossroads along the Westport to Castlebar road. As a result of the illegal dumping, two landowners have had their access blocked to their fields.
One of the landowners, Marty Needham, said he could not believe anyone would dump waste at the entrance to lands, where he has cattle grazing and silage stored.
“It is disgusting that someone would throw all that stuff there and if that is not bad enough they go and block access to land of myself and my neighbour,” he told The Mayo News.
The N5 is one of the busiest roads in the county and Marty believes it must have happened at night, when there was little traffic. He first noticed the pile of garden waste on the morning of Saturday, August 3, while driving past.
“I was driving past when I saw the pile and had to swing around and check it out. Someone who was clearing out their garden or someone clearing it for them decided to dump it at the entrance to my land. It must have happened at night but it wouldn’t have taken a second to tip it up and be off.
“The Derrada road is notorious for dumping. There are signs up saying ‘CCTV cameras are in operation’ but they mustn’t seem to really care. It was put up on the ‘What’s on in Islandeady’ Facebook page but nobody seems to have seen anything. I doubt anyone will be caught for it.
“There is a lot of rubbish there and I doubt the council will move it because it’s on private property. We will have to do it ourselves, but given the amount of rubbish, the bins will be soon full,” he concluded.