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Clean Neighbourhoods

Clean Neighbourhoods

The Clean Neighbourhood Service is committed to preserving a clean and safe environment for all residents and visitors to enjoy. Our key issues include litter, dog fouling, illegal dumping, fly-posting, graffiti, abandoned and nuisance Vehicles

We are focused on promoting behavioural change through enforcement and community engagement programmes and are actively involved in a number of initiatives to help improve the local environment.

Enforcement
We have a team of Environmental Wardens who carry out patrols across the Borough, giving advice and issuing Fixed Penalty Notices to offenders.  Abandoned and nuisance vehicles, littering, dog fouling, fly-posting, graffiti and illegally disposing of waste are criminal offences and we encourage you to report offenders.

Community Engagement
As well as attending resident and inter-agency meetings we provide education programmes to schools.  The programme focuses on litter, its impact on the environment, climate change and helps the younger generation be more aware of these important issues.  If your local school is interested in receiving the programme please contact us.

Telephone – 0300 0300 900
Email –
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The Council has partnered with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’s, Live Here Love Here campaign, which helps people improve their local environment, building a sense of pride in local communities.

Live Here Love Here launched it’s Small Grants Scheme in April 2022, inviting groups or organisations committed to improving their local environment to submit an application form for the scheme. The scheme provides support to volunteer projects that:

  • Use innovative ways to reduce littering and dog fouling
  • Improve the way the local urban, rural or coastal environment is looked after
  • Contribute to the development of civic pride within a community with a focus on environmental improvement
  • Enhance or attract tourism to our community through environmental improvements

Grants range from £500 to £5,000 and the scheme is open to volunteer and community groups, all school and third level education organisations, youth groups and sports clubs undertaking civic pride projects in supporting Council area.

We anticipate a number of great ‘green’ projects completed in 2022/23 across the Borough so keep your eye on the council’s Facebook page for ongoing updates.

People who fail to pick up after their dog are liable to a fixed penalty fine of £120.  You can assist Council by reporting offenders via or calling 0300 0300 900.

Outdoor banners raise awareness of this problem and are placed in a number of areas across the Borough.  If you think an area near you would benefit from one of the banners then please contact us.

The Council’s Green Dog Walkers scheme calls on volunteers to sign up and make a difference together. We want to encourage people to get involved and take the pledge to clean up after their dogs as well as acting as a friendly reminder to other dog walkers to do the same. Those who sign up to the scheme receive a doggie welcome pack which contains the Green Dog Walkers® armband, dog bone shaped bag dispenser, doggie bags and clip on hand sanitiser. Volunteers take the pledge to wear the armband when walking their dog to remind people to clean up after their pooch. They also carry extra doggie bags and are happy to share these bags with dog walkers who need them. If you want to make a difference and sign up please contact us today.

The Adopt-a-Street scheme aims to support local residents, schools and businesses who wish to commit to look after a specific area which they ‘adopt’ and keep clean and tidy and free from litter. All those taking part help make a difference to the local area and encourage a feeling of community spirit.  Equipment is provided and ongoing support is given to those who register for the scheme.

With the support of residents who take positive action to keep local streets litter free, we can tackle this harmful and unsightly problem together and help provide a cleaner environment for all to enjoy.

The Council provide a wide range of services and facilities to deal with waste materials. Where people fly-tip waste within the Borough it makes our residential areas, parks, streets and rural beauty-spots look untidy. The Environmental Health and Environmental Services teams work to persuade everybody to dispose of their waste responsibly and this sometimes requires us to clean-up after those who don’t. Where waste is fly-tipped within the Borough it is normally done at times and in locations to avoid detection by us or anyone else, however, if you observe fly-tipping in your area please make a note of as much detail as possible and forward this to the authorities. Currently according to the law, surveillance and legal action against fly-tippers can only be taken by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). The NIEA may be contacted on 0845 302 0008.

Please refer to our “Bins & Recycling” webpages where you can find advice on how to properly dispose of excess waste, bulky items etc.

We continue to address the issue of cigarette litter in an effort to reduce the number of cigarette butts discarded on our streets. Littering with cigarette butts accounts for the majority of fines issued by the Council.  We hope to reduce the number of cigarettes butts on our streets with the offer of free re-usable cigarette pouches for smokers. If you would like to receive one of the pouches, please contact us.

We continue to address discarded chewing gum on our footpaths and open spaces and aim to reduce the need for clean-ups through our chewing gum advertising campaigns, with the Wrigley’s ‘Bin It’ roadshow for local secondary schools and with the offer of free Gum-Raps for our residents.  The Gum-Raps are pocket sized pouches for the convenient disposal of chewing gum while on the move. The initiatives encourage environmental awareness amongst teenagers and young adults and deliver an effective and engaging way to responsibly dispose of chewing gum. Please contact us if you feel you or a young person’s group would like to receive a supply of Gum-Raps.

The council can deal with abandoned and nuisance vehicles under the Pollution Control and Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 respectively.

Report an Abandoned Vehicle
We work with the PSNI and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to trace the owners of abandoned vehicles before taking further action. Council can issue:

  • a seven day notice to remove the vehicle, after which we can remove and dispose of it and
  • a £200 fixed penalty to the vehicle owner

You can report an abandoned vehicle to us. Please provide us with as much information as possible about the vehicle, including:

  • make and model
  • registration number
  • colour
  • condition
  • exact location
  • approximate length of time it has been there.

Report a Nuisance Vehicle
It is an offence to

  • leave two or more vehicles for sale within 500m of each other on a road
  • carry out repairs to a vehicle on a road (unless as a result of an accident or breakdown).

Offenders may be issued with a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice.

Please contact us if you wish to report a nuisance vehicle, providing information on the make and model, registration number and location of the vehicle.