Farm litter adds to the pollution burden on the River Blackwater

This is according to members of Blackwater Paddle Sports.

The organisation’s public relations’ officer Kate Curran takes up the story: “Members have taken part in a number of litter picking events on the river between the Moy and Maghery over recent months.

“And the volumes of material in the water that emanate from adjoining farms are highly significant.

“The River Blackwater is an amazing resource which can be enjoyed by everyone. The members of Blackwater Paddle Sports are doing their best to ensure this objective can be achieved.”

Kate continued: “We are funded by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. All the litter that we collect is taken to local recycling centres.

“We also take a photographic record of the materials that we pick up. Pictures are sent to Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful as evidence of the litter clean-up work that we engage in.”

But at a more fundamental level, Blackwater Paddle Sports is all about delivering fun opportunities for people of all ages, who simply want to get out on to the water with their kayaks and paddle boards.

Kate Curran again: “At first we were in awe of the beauty of the river, its amazing birdlife at every corner, grand stately homes overlooking the river and old classic style bridges every few miles.

“There is something different to see at every turn.

“As is the case with all rivers, lakes and roads, we realised that we had to do something about the huge amount of litter strewn along the Blackwater’s banks.

“Our committee then successfully applied for a marine litter grant of £2,800 from Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, which we used to purchase two double kayaks plus equipment and began our monthly litter pick programme along the river."

During their first weekend members of Blackwater Paddle Sports, who were assisted by groups of local children and two local football clubs – An Portmor and Moy GAC – gathered 25kg plastic, 30kg of wooden posts and 30kg of non-recycling litter.

There were a lot of polythene sheets and feeding buckets blown into the river by the wind and around 30 footballs collected.

Kate concluded: “For our future litter picks we hope to involve groups from all sides of the community along the river.”

Blackwater Paddle Sports currently have 20 members of all ages from all backgrounds. The group need another 30 members to be at a level of the other paddle sports clubs around Northern Ireland.

n For more information check out Blackwater Paddle Sports Facebook page.