Inverness Divers clean-up River Ness.
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A sizeable haul of litter was collected from the River Ness in Inverness last Friday evening (23 August) when over 20 members of the Inverness Sub Aqua Club undertook a litter-pick of the river with Highland Council’s TEC Services.
The volunteer divers carried out an underwater sweep along both banks of the river from the fishing hut at Bught Park to Greig Street Bridge, while staff from TEC Services lifted the litter into two open-backed pick-up transit vans.
Alan McKinnie, Highland Council’s Waste Operation’s Manager with TEC Services said: “The divers did an excellent job, picking litter from the river that our staff simply cannot get to. Although we can sometimes see litter from the river bank, we need this specialist help from Inverness Sub Aqua Club to help us keep the River area clean and tidy. We are very grateful to them for their time and assistance.”
ISAC co-ordinator, Ian MacDonald said: “Friday evening was extremely busy on and around the River Ness with many fishermen, and tourists either fishing or walking along the banks. Our divers became a tourist attraction as people (mainly overseas visitors) stopped to watch and photograph us and ask what we were doing.
“Among the items that we found were the usual bottles and cans, and the more unusual things like an electric strimmer, a baby stair gate, traffic cones, temporary road signs and mobile phones.”
City Leader, Councillor Ian Brown welcomed the works to clean up the River Ness, he said: “I would like to thank Inverness Sub Aqua Club and its members for giving up their time on a Friday night to support our TEC Services staff in their efforts to keep our city clean.
“I echo Ian MacDonald’s observations that the River Ness was busy. Not only is it vital to the tourism economy both as an environmental asset for sports but also as a visual amenity for visitors and locals in a city centre location.
“Last week, the Council supported the Zero Waste Scotland - Litter Week of Action 2013 Campaign which ran from 19 - 25 August and featured the “Flingin’s mingin” message. The River Ness clean-up is an excellent example of how the local authority can work in partnership with community groups to get the message across that ‘Flingin’s mingin’ and that we can all do our bit by not dropping litter in the first place.”
Inverness Sub Aqua Club has been a branch of the British Sub Aqua club since 1968 and currently has around 60 members. The club meets 7.30pm on Friday evenings at the RNLI Station at North Kessock and trains new members throughout winter. The club also provides a helping hand as safety marshals to the annual Children 1st River Ness charity raft race which takes place on Saturday 7 September.
For further information about Inverness Sub Aqua Club see their website at www.diveisac.org.uk