Moyola Anglers meet Green Party

Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Moyola Anglers Ciaran Bradley, Joey O'Neill and John McCombe have met with the Green Party at Stormont to discuss pollution.

The Green Party said river bailiffs across Northern Ireland should be allowed to take samples from rivers during suspected pollution incidents, "as resources appear to be preventing the Environmental and Heritage Service from being able to investigate all incidents”.

The Green Party met with representatives from anglers’ groups at Stormont.
They are concerned about pollution levels in local rivers and the lack of severe penalties for those found responsible for pollution.

Green Party MLA Brian Wilson said: "The judiciary must ensure that the polluter pays. The courts must make sure that those who pollute a river and in particular, persistent polluters must be named and shamed and fined heavily for poisoning our waterways. Our rivers form part of our drinking water system, so it is in everyone’s interest that our rivers are clean.”

Green Party South Antrim spokesperson Pete Whitcroft said: "If the word of bailiffs is good enough to be used to bring a prosecution then they should be trusted to take samples from rivers too. These people are on the rivers all the time, they are reporting suspected pollution incidents all the time.”
Other issues discussed at the meeting included the introduction of a new by-law which would allow for the immediate up grading of septic tanks posing risks to rivers, a registrar for chemical usage and the development of proper drainage systems for car washes.
It was also pointed out at the meeting that angling brings £22.5 million-a-year into the local economy.