North Down DUP MLA Gordon Dunne with the Quad Sprayers in North Down

North Down MLA Gordon Dunne has welcomed the weed control sprayers into North Down. Dunne has been campaigning for a long time with the Department for Infrastructure and is pleased that the programme is now underway after a long delay:

 ‘I raised this issue with the former DRD Minister McIlveen on quite a number of occasions and I'm glad that progress has now been made in spraying the areas across North Down which have been blighted with weeds all year. In 2015, no weed spraying was carried out by Transport NI which resulted in excessive weed growth in many residential areas of North Down, causing a real hazard to pedestrians and motorists and left many areas in a very poor condition.
 
Having spoken with the Quad Operators, they have now carried out an extensive area of weed control spraying right across North Down. This was one of the biggest complaints this year from understandably frustrated ratepayers who pay their way and expect a reasonable level of service from Statutory Agencies. I have been working with all of the various Ministers and Transport NI Engineers to ensure progress has been made. This spraying will certainly help as we seek to tackle the excessive weed growth locally and it is vital that plans are put in place for early next year to ensure the weeds aren’t allowed to grow to the unacceptable levels of this past year.’