WARRENPOINT has been left smelling “like a wheelie bin”, a protest about a port odour pervading the town has been told. Independent Crotlieve councillor Mark Gibbons made the comment at ‘The Smell in the Point Public Talk’, which was held at the town dock on Monday evening. “I have been a councillor now for what seems like a lifetime, but I have never received as many phone calls and emails – and I’ve been talking to the people on the doors – about the current situation, regarding the smell coming from the docks and the flies; we have to keep on mentioning those as well, as I have never seen the likes of it in my life,” he said. “I have never in my life seen the anger and just the pure disappointment of people over this situation with the harbour authority. “Going down into Clermont Gardens in the morning, it just smells like a wheelie bin, like you’re lifting up the lid of the wheelie bin and it is that smell all in round the town, and you’ve got the flies and bluebottles.”
Cllr Gibbons highlighted that he has relayed all the correspondence he has received to Warrenpoint Harbour Authority – which has confirmed that the odour is household waste being recycled by Re-Gen – adding that “they need to deal with this, they need to answer to the people”. He also confirmed that he has reported the situation to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and to the council’s Environmental Health Department. “I am very disappointed that out of all the local councillors here, I’m the only one that bothered to turn up,” the Crotlieve representative concluded.
“There are a lot of councillors who got a lot of votes in the last election. “Where are they now? Why are they not standing here? “I don’t know. It is very disrespectful.” Local business owner Jim Boylan said that it was “good to see such a large turnout for what is a major problem in the town”, and that the smell is “affecting all the businesses in Duke Street and Church Street”. “The way forward is we need one of our local representatives to take an emergency motion at the next council meeting to find out what Environmental Health and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency is doing about this, and we need their report to be made public,” he stated. “We need to find out if Newry, Mourne and Down Council is satisfied with the two statements that have come from Warrenpoint Harbour and Re-Gen. “Because I am sure that the people around here are not satisfied with what is happening. “What is going to get action here is what is happening now, and it is people power. “Because the people here and the people of Warrenpoint have suffered for far too long.”
Representing Alliance, Helena Young said that her party’s South Down MLA Patrick Brown has been “very active fighting on environmental issues for this area”. “I can assure you that we will stay on this case until we have answers and a resolution,” she added. “The other thing I would like to say is that there are three elected representatives on the Warrenpoint Harbour Board – where are they? “They should be asking the questions on your behalf.” Colum Sands of RARE (Rostrevor Action Respecting the Environment) praised Cllr Gibbons for his attendance at the protest, which he described as “incredibly important”, and said that, having attended the recent Wake The Giant festival, he was “reminded what an incredible centre you have in this Warrenpoint Square”. “Wake The Giant saw this big giant thing taken in on a motorbike, but I think tonight is much more important because, tonight, I think it is the feeling that the giant of community spirit has awakened,” he said. “Make sure you keep it awake.” The protest also heard from residents of Clermont Gardens and Newry Street who have been impacted by the odour. Bringing proceedings to a close, Shay Daly, one of the event’s organisers, stated that “one way or the other, the stink has to go”. “I would like to say thank you very much to everybody for the community spirit and the energy here tonight,” he said. Adding to this, Cllr Gibbons suggested that the formation of a community association for the town should be considered. “It should have a community association, where everybody can group together and then actions can be made,” he said. “We can have our rants, but after our rants we can actually go through with something, and at the very end of it there is a positive result.”
