Anger over more illegal dumping in Strabane

A RENEWED appeal has been made for people to ‘show a bit of pride in Strabane’ after another incident of fly-tipping, this time in the Mount Sion area.

The discovery comes shortly after a woman was seen dumping rubbish from a Donegal-registered vehicle on the town’s bypass.

The latest incident occurred earlier this week near the alleyway between Mount Sion and Beechmount Village, an area typically used for flood sandbags and winter grit, and not covered by CCTV.

Ivan Barr from the Melmount Community Forum condemned the dumping, which he said was discovered by local resident Tom Browne while he was cleaning nearby pathways. A group of community volunteers quickly stepped in to remove the waste.

“Our big concern is the risk of vermin being attracted to the area,” Mr Barr said. “Mount Sion is a quiet neighbourhood with many senior residents and families – no one wants it turned into a rubbish tip.”

He acknowledged the anger such incidents cause but urged restraint.

“There’s a temptation to find out who did it and dump the rubbish on their property, but that would make us no better than the fly-tippers themselves.”

Mr Barr also reminded residents that there is a fully equipped waste collection facility nearby. “There’s a nice big refuse centre just up the road that will happily take your rubbish. I would ask whoever did this to use it in future.”

He concluded by appealing for civic pride, “The people of Mount Sion take pride in keeping their area neat and tidy. We ask anyone tempted to fly-tip to show the same pride in their town.”