Unsightly weeds are eyesore in Downpatrick

Unsightly weeds are eyesore in Downpatrick

3 August 2016

OVERGROWN weeds near Downpatrick’s main tourist attractions is an embarrassment to the town, it has been claimed.

Helen Long, from Carryduff, was at The Mall near Down Cathedral and Down County Museum last Friday when she noticed the unsightly weeds growing along the inner edge of the footpath above the Almshouses. 

At the same she noticed several coach-loads of tourists.

“This was delightful to see,” she said. “But oh dear, I wonder what they must have thought when they saw the thickets of weeds.

“Having been born and bred in the town, I feel ashamed that this most special area should have been allowed to get into such a state.”

Ms Long said she wanted to find out who was responsible.

“I rang the council, who passed me on to the Roads Service: they could not give me a definitive answer on whose responsibility it was, citing the possibility that it might even be down to the cathedral. 

“On further enquiries, I gather that there is an on-going dispute over these very weeds. About something that a couple of willing volunteers could have cleared in under an hour. I was half tempted to do it myself.

“Meanwhile, the weeds are getting taller and more unsightly. I hold this place very dear, and surely others do too; but nothing is being done. A place with such a name as The Mall needs to clean up its act, in order not to let the whole county down.

A spokeswoman from Newry, Mourne and Down Council said: “Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has responsibility for weed management in areas under Council ownership and not on public pathways. The area in question is not under Council ownership.”

A spokeswoman for Transport NI said: “TransportNI is in the process of putting in place a weed spraying programme in all areas within the Newry, Mourne and Down area. The work should begin shortly.”