CCTV on the way as scourge of tyre dumping returns to north Louth

Louth County Council is still awaiting the go ahead from Government to use CCTV technology to capture licence plate registrations of fly tippers dumping tyres in the region, councillors learned at the Dundalk Municipal District February meeting.

Cllr Antóin Watters raised the matter at the monthly meeting, telling the members present that the dumping of tyres too place in the Edentubber area again over the previous two weekends, with "quite significant dumping" of lorry tyres. The Dundalk-Carlingford councillor had shared a photo on social media the previous week of tyres dumped at Clermont Carn in Ravensdale.

Cllr Watters told the February meeting that when he started as a councillor in 2016 there was talk about plans to use CCTV, and asked what progress has been made and what could they do. He added that the dumping of tyres seems to be moving from one area to another, from places in Armagh and back to north Louth, in a "vicious cycle".

Replying to Cllr Watters, Senior Engineer Mark Johnston, said that CCTV surveillance “still isn't legal for us to use” adding that it was “edging closer to being made law”, but as of yet they still could not deploy it to capture anybody's number plate.

Mr Johnston added that it was "moving through the legal process at a national level" and they would "have to wait that out".