Vegetation burning sparked fear and upset among local families in Letterkenny last weekend, the council has heard.
Controlled fires were reported in the Gortlee area of the town from Thursday to Sunday. However, the timing of the fires at night, and at the weekend, led to numerous complaints from nearby residents.
Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh, Mayor of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District, said he was contacted daily. One family, he said, had to move out of their home to protect their child who has asthma. He added that others were concerned about the windy conditions at the time.
“People were genuinely afraid to go to their bed,” Cllr Kavanagh told the council.
Cllr Kavanagh said the fire brigade and gardaí were called, but it emerged that the burning was being done under a permit. He said he logged a complaint with the council but received no response prior to the Letterkenny-Milford MD meeting on Tuesday.
A formal response was given by the department yesterday which said: “The Waste Management (Prohibition of Waste Disposal by Burning) Regulation 2009, as amended, provides an exemption which exists to allow farmers, as a last resort, to dispose of bushes and shrubbery generated by agricultural practices. This exemption expires at the end of 2022.
“The Environment Section of Donegal County Council receive ‘Burn Notices’ from farmers who plan to carry out a controlled burn of this waste vegetation from their land. This notice is emailed to the West Region Fire Control Centre and farmers are advised to contact the Fire Service before and after the burn. The Waste Enforcement Officer for the area is notified to check that fire does not contain materials other than green waste.”
Cllr Kavanagh added that people were very unhappy with the practice. “These things have to be done but that’s not the way to be doing them,” he said.
