Abandoned scooters and a dumped car could be pulled from the River Lagan under a council plan to clean up the “appalling” waterway and turn it into a tourist attraction featuring “little boat tours”.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) this week agreed to “work in conjunction” with Stormont agencies to remove dumped materials from the river after their “dangers” were highlighted in chambers.
Elected reps in Lagan Valley Island (LVI) civic centre are advocating for an ambitious return of cruise tourism on the river, which flows past the local authority HQ.
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Downshire East DUP rep, Uel Mackin said: “Sadly, it has been drawn to my attention by some of the residents who live nearby, about the state of the canal and the river beyond the bridge. I took a walk along it last week to see the extent of what they were talking about.
“Between here (LVI) and the Blue Bridge, there is a red car. There are also at least three scooters, and what looks like to be the remains of a bicycle. There are also at least 12 high level security barriers, things I am sure we as a council could make use of, very usefully.
“They are all there and I would fear the owner of the car is still trying to find it and may be police resources being used trying to locate a stolen car. The car didn’t arrive there just by itself and that is one thing for sure.”
Cllr Mackin added: “Some of the residents have written to Rivers Agency and got a very quick response, ‘it’s not doing any harm so there’s nothing we can do about it’. Now, I do not accept that kind of an answer from anybody.
“It is a danger to anybody that wants to venture into the water and we did have canoeists and the sea cadets at a time would use that stretch of water. There are people who come in on the jetty towards the Union Bridge and sail down there. So, it is used. With the stuff that is in there, it is a danger.
“So, I would propose that we write to the agency that is responsible to work in conjunction with our own directorates, leisure, regeneration, and environment to see some movement on this to make a place of potential beauty into something worthwhile.
“There are councils right across the country and these islands who would give their arm and leg for a facility like we have here. And yet it is being abused and nobody seems to be taking responsibility for it.”
The proposal gained support across the LVI chamber with a suggestion to bring the tourism element of the river back to the council area.
Lisburn South Alliance Alderman, Amanda Grehan said: “Whenever this building was first built in 2001, we had a little boat outside and we had tours and the place was buzzing. I would not fancy getting in a boat going down the Lagan right now at this moment in time.
“There are various groups who ask about having some facilities here on the water. I think this proposal is really worthwhile and let’s see if we could get more activities with the likes of little boat tours and the like on the Lagan and around the area.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that the car has been in the river for many years. In recent times it has been identified on social media as a Ford Cortina, which breaks the surface in dry spells of weather.
Although, it is not known what year it made its final parking space in the river there are some local estimates of the late 1980s, though some elected reps of LVI believe it to be within the last 20 years.
Lisburn North DUP cllr, Jonathan Craig added: “It is absolutely appalling. The River Lagan runs the entire length of this council almost. And it is one of the great resources that we actually have in this council area. We have the Lagan Valley Regional Park, that’s designated by both ourselves and Belfast City Council with regard to looking after the area.
“The appalling thing is, there are still those people out there who unfortunately abuse that wonderful facility that we have. It is regrettable that these things have occurred. Who in their right mind puts a car in the river? Given the price of scrap metal these days, that is an act of sheer madness.
“I do get the distinct impression that there are two agencies out there who are just playing this off each other, to avoid responsibility for this very serious issue. Somebody needs to take a hold of this situation and get it sorted out.”
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