Bonfires should go in favour of new beacons

SIR, — Having read last week’s front page story about mounting calls for all bonfires across the district to be axed, I have to say it is something I agree with.

I would also like to congratulate the Community Safety Partnership’s Bonfire Liaison Committee for its excellent work in this particular field.

I am not a kill joy by any means; we have all participated in the past in building bonfires and taken great pride in doing so. But the size of bonfires and the materials they contain is getting out of hand in my opinion. Items that should be taken to an amenity site should not be placed on a bonfire, nor should vehicle tyres be set alight.

The heavy burden and cost of clearing bonfire sites eats into Down Council’s budget with the tab picked up by ratepayers. This is unacceptable.

Likewise, the emergency services have enough to do at Halloween without aggressive behaviour hampering their work.

I hope that next year more communities will take the advice of the Community Safety Partnership’s Bonfire Committee and opt for a more safe and regulated bonfire.

Yours etc.,

JOHN HUDDLESTON,

UUP branch chairman,

Killyleagh.