Volunteers Take Part in ‘Extreme’ Clean of Ardglass Harbour

Restoring the beauty of the Sheepland Coast, from Ballyhornan to Ardglass—that’s the mission of the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership (SLLP). On 22 September, the SLLP’s Coastal Guardian Coast Care Project brought volunteers to tackle the dangerous and unsightly litter that mars the beauty of one of Northern Ireland’s most beautiful coastal stretches.

The scheme, which brought together volunteers working both in the sea and on the beach, was made possible by a grant from the ‘Live Here Love Here’ small grant scheme and was one of a number of beach cleaning activities in the area.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairman, Councillor Mark Murnin said, “I am pleased to see so many volunteers and local people working together to clean our coast and remove the litter that we see all too frequently on our shores. The work that the SLLP’s ‘Coast Care’ initiative carries out not only benefits our environment, wildlife and those who visit the area, it also brings together those who take part in the clean-up. This is a truly worthwhile initiative and everyone who takes part should be very proud.”

The clean-up was coordinated by the SLLP, working in partnership with Northern Ireland Fishing Harbour Authority, with local kayakers and boat owners volunteering on the water as well as other volunteers on land.

Chairman of the SLLP Stakeholder Committee, PJ Gault said, “We are very proud of our efforts and the partnership that is helping to clean up Ardglass Harbour. Our long term goal is to reduce the litter coming from boats at sea and also from people using our coastal paths. The message to all is to ‘Protect our environment, take your rubbish away with you and dispose of it responsibly’.”

During this year’s event, litter was collected and bagged from difficult-to-access bays by volunteers working on the beaches, then transferred to kayakers who took the rubbish across the harbour to a skip on Ardglass Harbour. The team effort resulted in 60 bags and a large number of items being collected and removed from the environment.

The clean-up followed on from a similar event in 2017, where the team of volunteers successfully cleaned-up Killough Coastal Path, also made possible by a ‘Live Here Love Here’ small grant.

This year so far SLLP has worked with over 130 community volunteers and lifted approximately 160 full sacks of litter from our coast. When combined with all the larger items that our beach cleaning volunteers have also removed from the shore, we have removed approximately 1.25 tonnes of litter this year to date.