McIntyre welcomesfunding boost from carrier bag levy

Councillor McIntyre said “There has been a 72% drop in demand for ‘single use’ carrier bags in Northern Ireland since the introduction of the levy which is fantastic for the environment.

“This equates to around 250 million fewer plastic bags. The recent £1.3m pledged by the Department of the Environment to the NGO Challenge Fund will help to set up environmental projects that encourage the community to take an active interest in the natural and built environment.

“I would encourage local community groups, charitable trusts and schools to avail of this funding.

“There is increasing interest in environmental concerns and a number of issues have been widely reported on recently in the Lisburn area.

“The natural and built environments are a beautiful non renewable resource and it is great to see the money raised from a levy to protect the environment going back to the community.”

For more information on the NGO Challenge Fund 2015 can be found on NI Environment Link website. Deadline for applications is October 3.