Debate contribution: Waste Management Issues: Warrenpoint

Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on 1 October 2024.

MLA

Mr Robbie Butler

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

1 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Waste Management Issues: Warrenpoint

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4563304

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank you for your indulgence in allowing me to speak in the Adjournment debate. As someone from Lagan Valley, I am somewhat of an interloper in matters regarding South Down, but, obviously, as changes have been made, I might be in for a few more AERA Adjournment debates, as long as tomorrow comes. This is an important matter, and Members have displayed how passionately they feel about it. Like others, I have received many emails from people who have been affected in Warrenpoint. I have friends who work and live there, so I have some evidence of it, but I have to declare that I have not been to Warrenpoint for a number of years. I will speak from the perspective of the communications that I have had and the experience that we had in Lisburn. In an area bordering Belfast, a number of years ago, constituents of mine had similar concerns about the Mullaghglass refuse site. The reality is that recycling and dealing with refuse remains one of the biggest challenges that we will face as a legislature. I have been looking forward to working with the Minister as we go forward in this mandate to tackle that emerging problem. However, we have to deal with the day that we are in, and, today, people in Warrenpoint are faced with the same challenges that my constituents faced: the reduction of and detriment to their residential facility; the detriment to their leisure facility and use of their properties; and the potential detriment, which was raised with me, to their property value. Those are the realities that people face if trying to do business or sell a property when something is putting people off. Many years ago, Lisburn had a burn house. To be fair, the smell from it probably travelled about 10 miles: it was an equitable pollutant, but you would not put up with it today. Whilst I do not blame the Minister, and, in this instance, I do not blame Re-Gen, in particular, we need to face into the problems, and we need solutions. Without prejudice to anything that is going on — perhaps the Minister will update us — at the time, the residents of Mullaghglass tried — unsuccessfully — to find a remedy before the dump was closed. However, at the start of this year, the Supreme Court picked up the case. We never want to get to the point where our constituents have to take matters like this into their own hands in order to get recourse. When I was listening to Colin, I was trying to think of any questions that I could ask the Minister. Colin rhymed some off, and they were excellent questions. I have two questions in particular that the Minister could perhaps pick up. The first one is on the powers that exist when you are in inspection and those that exist post-inspection for bringing the remedy. Secondly, what standards should people who neighbour those facilities expect to be entitled to? We should all be good neighbours, and I have no doubt that Re-Gen is trying to be a good neighbour. What can we do to ensure that, wherever those facilities exist or wherever we are placing our landfill, the people who neighbour those facilities have a clear understanding of what they should be entitled to? What can we do, as legislators and through our local government, to ensure that those things are made clear?

Absolutely.

I do not think that I get an extra minute, even though the Deputy Speaker is from my party, so I am going to finish. That is absolutely right. It is really important that we get this right today. The Minister will speak about the facts, but the issue speaks to a wider pressure that we have with our climate credentials. We are still shipping off too much waste, and we have not been brave enough to step in to the methods that we could use to reduce our own refuse. This has been a very interesting debate.

678 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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