New bill will improve quality of life for everyone - Environment Minister

Environment Minister Edwin Poots today said he believes everyone in Northern Ireland will benefit from the introduction of the new Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill.

Speaking during an Assembly debate today on the Bill Mr Poots said: “The main purpose of the Bill is to contribute to everyone’s quality of life. Clean and tidy neighbourhoods help to engender a sense of pride in their residents. People also feel safer in such neighbourhoods and feel more at ease in their local surroundings.”

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill is designed to help district councils to deal more effectively with a wide range of day-to-day problems which impact on the quality of local environments across Northern Ireland.

Mr Poots added: “The Bill will help bring about positive benefits In terms of tourism, reducing anti-social behaviour and making all of us think more about the environment in which we live. It should also help to reduce the massive street cleaning costs faced by district councils.

“The Bill will show, for example, that this Assembly intends, through the introduction of stronger legislation and higher fines, to get tough with those who continue to litter and deface our streets and public spaces.”

The Bill was introduced in the Assembly on 22 June 2010 and brought forward by Mr Poots following the completion of a public consultation exercise earlier this year.

Notes to editors:

1. Further information on Clean Neighbourhoods is available on the DOE website
2. The Bill is based on corresponding provisions in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (England and Wales) concerning gating orders; vehicles; litter; graffiti and other defacement; controls on dogs; noise; and various miscellaneous issues including fixed penalty receipts, abandoned shopping and luggage trolleys, statutory nuisances and offences relating to pollution. The provisions concerning graffiti and other defacement and some aspects of the provisions concerning noise are also based on corresponding provisions in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act.
3. All media enquiries should be directed to the Department of Environment’s Press Office on 028905 40003. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.