Co Down rep slated Council’s “poor performance” on litter fines

Downpatrick councillor says neighbouring local authority issues four times as many fines in a month as “we do in a year”

A Co Down elected rep has slated his Council’s “poor performance” on litter fines saying the neighbouring local authority issues four times as many in a month as “we do in a year”.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) now says it will be “prioritising” concerns on dog fouling and fly-tipping. A report on the council’s performance (2024-25) was presented to the strategy, policy and resources committee this week showing the local authority issued 31 fixed penalty notices with initial fines set at £80.

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Downpatrick independent rep, Cadogan Enright said: “Is there any explanation to accompany this document? There are several areas where we’ve done well, but there are also areas where we have done particularly badly. “In the cleansing area, I know for the last 10 years we’ve been pointing out that our annual number of fixed penalties notices is below what half the councils in Northern Ireland do in a single month. “If you look at ABC (Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon) for instance they would have in a single month something like four times what we do in a year. It is a poor performance and we’ve had a number of quite big meetings on what we will do to perform better on that.”

Out of the 31 penalties last year at NMDDC, there were 26 paid. A refusal to pay can lead to court proceedings with a top fine of £2,500. The most recent figures for ABC (2024-25) show the council made a total of 190 fixed penalty notices with the initial fine set at £120. The former Alliance councillor also raised concerns on the lack of progress on Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points in the district. He added: “It really is painful after all these years to be sitting here, that we still don’t have a financial target for gaining the benefits of the green economy. “Even if we had an explanation as to why we are in a single year getting less than what most councils get in terms of fixed penalties in a month.” A council officer responded: “This would be a matter for a different department, but I would say that these matters are addressed and prioritised within the 2025-26 business plan with actions and targets.”

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