Security firm policing council’s new facility without electricity

Security firm policing council’s new facility without electricity

11 December 2019

A PRIVATE security firm has been employed to police Downpatrick’s new £1m household recycling centre.

The Flying Horse Road facility — which opened in October — has no mains electricity to power the ultra-modern site’s high-tech security system, rendering it inoperable.

As a result, the local authority is paying for a private security firm to police the centre outside its normal operating hours, but is refusing to say how much this is costing ratepayers who 

are also footing the bill for the hire of a generator.

It has been installed to supply electricity at the centre to power lights, staff accommodation and some specialised skips and containers which are capable of compacting materials, including cardboard.

Council officials have confirmed that the power supplied by the generator is not adequate to run the Flying Horse Road centre’s CCTV cameras which are dotted around the site, but hopes to have mains power installed as soon as possible.

Over recent years, significant sums have been invested in new civic amenity sites in Ballynahinch and Castlewellan, with the Flying Horse Road facility described as one of the most modern of its kind.

It opened amid a blaze of publicity and coincided with confirmation that the amount of waste being recycled locally is above the Northern Ireland target with the Newry, Mourne and Down area now one of the province’s top recycling authorities.

The district is recycling just over 51% of its waste and has passed the Northern Ireland average for the first time. Over the past year, the level of recycled waste has increased by 5%.

Downpatrick councillor Dermot Curran hopes the work to provide mains power to the new Flying Horse Road facility is completed as soon as possible.

“I do not know why there is no mains power but it is a little embarrassing that the CCTV cameras at a £1m centre cannot be operated and we have had to hire in a private security firm,” he said.

“This represents an additional cost to already hard-pressed ratepayers and I hope that we are talking about days, not weeks, for the mains power to be supplied. It is an issue council officers need to be on top of.”

Cllr Curran said that many people were keen to see the new centre opened, given that its predecessor at nearby Cloonagh Road was struggling to cope with the huge demand being placed upon it.

He continued: “It is great to have such a modern recycling facility on our doorstep to meet the needs of people who are clearly recycling their waste in increasing numbers. The new centre is being well used and the council deserves credit for this major investment but, in my opinion, the mains power issue should have been sorted before it opened for business.”

Cllr Curran said that given the increased emphasis on recycling, the council is behind innovative plans to allow groups and charities across the district to reuse various items dumped at household recycling centres in Downpatrick, Castlewellan and Ballynahinch.

He added: “A number of groups have expressed an interest in taking part and I have no doubt that this scheme will be a success with various items destined for the scrapheap given a new lease of life.”

A council spokeswoman confirmed that the recycling centre was operating without mains power.

“It has taken longer than anticipated to connect the mains power supply at the new site,” said the spokeswoman.

“As a temporary measure, a generator and security firm are being used to cover requirements. Newry, Mourne and Down Council is working to have the mains power installed as soon as possible.”

The Recorder asked the local authority how much it is paying the security firm to police the new civic amenity site outside its normal operating hours but was not provided with an answer.