Other News In Brief

Ravenscroft Avenue Resurfacing Works To Start On 24 April

The Department for Infrastructure has announced that resurfacing works will commence on Ravenscroft Avenue in Belfast from Monday, 24 April.

To facilitate safe delivery of the scheme, work will be completed under road closures, between the hours of 8.00 am and 6.00 pm (Monday to Friday only) from Monday 24 April until Friday 23 June. During these times, a diversionary route will be clearly signed via Beersbridge Road and Upper Newtownards Road. Access for residents will be maintained.

The Department has carefully planned these road works and associated traffic management arrangements in order to minimise inconvenience to the public, however road users should allow additional time when planning their journey.

Completion of the work by 23 June is subject to favourable weather conditions, however, the Department will keep the public informed of any change. All work will be carried out in line with current public health and health and safety advice, with safe systems of working in place for staff and contractors.

70-year-old Mayobridge Fined For Waste Offences

A 70-year-old Mayobridge man has been fined £1,000 at Newry Magistrates' Court for a series of waste offences.

On 25 January 2018, officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) carried out an intrusive survey on lands controlled by Patrick Murphy on the Ryan Road in which waste was found to be buried on the site.

This waste included various mixed waste and Waste Fines and was buried in an area previously subject to an NIEA Remediation project in 2016, in which deposited waste was repatriated to the Republic of Ireland. The waste found during the 2018 survey was found to have been deposited after the 2016 Remediation.

On the 30 August 2018 NIEA officers returned to the site to find the waste still in situ, as well as a large pile of smoking mixed waste, indicating that waste was being burnt on the site. There were no waste management authorisations to allow waste to be deposited or burnt on the site.

The NIEA was awarded a total of £900 in court costs.

New Comber Greenway Pilot Lighting Scheme Goes Live

Part of the Comber Greenway is to be lit up between 10.30pm and 6am in the first phase of a pilot lighting scheme.

Following consultation and engagement with local residents, the new lights between Beersbridge Road and Billy Neill Halt have been programmed to operate during hours of darkness.

As well as providing a safer space for those who wish to walk, wheel or cycle all year round, the scheme has been designed with the local environment in mind. The design uses a red light spectrum to minimise disturbance to bat colonies, while back louvres on the light heads and shorter columns will minimise light spill into the hedgerows to shield wildlife and diminish light pollution into adjoining properties.

The pilot will be reviewed by the Department after two years and will help form a decision on whether the scheme should be extended elsewhere.