Bonfire beacons may return again

Bonfire beacons may return again

22 July 2015

COUNCIL chiefs have been asked to help find money to allow eco-friendly 

beacons to be made available to local communities.

For the past number of years traditional Eleventh Night and Halloween bonfires in some parts of the district were a little different. Instead of piles of rubbish being burnt, eco-friendly steel beacons were filled with willow wood chips and built on a bed of sand to prevent damage to roads and car parks.

The beacons were not distributed for the recent Eleventh Night bonfires by Newry, Mourne and Down Council due to financial pressure, but councillor Billy Walker hopes the local authority will find the money to ensure they are available to local communities planning Halloween bonfires and next year’s Eleventh Night celebrations.

He said the former Down Council’s Community Safety Partnership joined forces with several other agencies and local communities to provide the beacons as an alternative to the traditional July bonfires in particular.

The beacons were viewed as a way of reducing the negative effect of bonfires on local communities and a way for organisations to address celebrations in a positive manner both during July and Halloween.

The cost of cleaning up after traditional bonfires, which are often located at car parks, is estimated at thousands of pounds, as parts of the car park have to be resurfaced. The use of beacons ensured the surface below them was not damaged.

Councillor Walker said funding for the beacons was delivered by councils via the EU’s Peace III initiative, describing the eco-friendly devices as a “great success.”

“While not all towns wanted the beacons, they were made available in a number of areas and viewed as a success. The use of beacons also ensured materials like tyres were not burned,” he explained.

“Towns which did not take the beacons did sign an agreement not to burn any hazardous material so the efforts of the former council to reduce the impact of bonfires on the environment was successful in my opinion.”

Councillor Walker said he plans to meet with council officials in a bid to earmark finance to allow the eco-friendly beacons to be made to all communities in the future, adding: “The beacons helped eradicate fly tipping, rubbish around bonfire sites and develop community spirit and is something many people greatly appreciated.”

A Newry, Mourne and Down Council spokeswoman confirmed that at present there is no funding available for bonfire beacons and no decision has been taken by the local authority to provide it.

She added: “Previous beacons were funded by the Peace III programme. The next phase of this funding programme, Peace IV, will not be available until early next year.”