Councillor wants to use new CCTV laws to catch flytippers
Cllr Donna Sheridan believes new legislation has provided Mayo County Council with the ideal opportunity to install CCTV at areas where dumping regularly occurs.
A councillor has urged Mayo County Council to use new laws to install CCTV cameras at various locations around the county in an effort to catch illegal dumpers,
Castlebar-based Fine Gael Cllr Donna Sheridan told last week's council meeting that the legislation will allow local authorities to use CCTV cameras and drone footage to identify and prosecute individuals who are found to have engaged in illegal dumping.
The measures were introduced as a novel way of catching offenders whose illegal dumping is hurting efforts to tackle climate change and who are leaving areas unsightly.
"I see legislation has been enacted that CCTV can now be used in areas where there is dumping and littering problem," Cllr Sheridan said. "I would love to see us using this legislation and to try and provide CCTV in these areas to prevent it happening.
Cllr Sheridan believes it is about time that the local authority started prosecuting offenders and using technology such as CCTV can be a big benefit.
"If we can look at a plan to do that for the next meeting it would be really helpful," she added.
The regulations, which were brought forward in the Dáil by Minister of State at the Department of the Environment Ossian Smyth, came into force on February 15.
