Miller and Carmichael call for litter-free East Londonderry
Mr Glen Miller, the East Londonderry Ulster Unionist Party chief spokesperson, and Mr Robert Carmichael, the East Londonderry UUP Association Chairman, have called on the entire community to help boost farm tourism by making the constituency a “litter free zone”.
In a joint statement, the UUP duo said many in the agricultural sector knew that diversification was the way forward to ensure the future of the industry and farm tourism was a key method.
Mr Miller and Mr Carmichael added: “This is why the community should help in whatever way possible to ensure Northern Ireland in general, and East Londonderry in particular, becomes a litter free zone.
“We have in our Province, wonderful opportunities where farm tourism potential can be developed even further, and we all as responsible citizens have a role to play is giving visitors to the region a good impression.
“This can be achieved primarily with everyone playing their part in making Ulster a litter free zone.
“Our Province boasts some of the best natural tourist attractions in the globe – the terrific beaches, for example in East Londonderry.
“These, and other attractions, are visited by hundreds of thousands of people annually, so it is imperative the Stormont Executive supports farm house accommodation for tourists, as well as develop the bed and breakfast market based in the agricultural sector.
“It is not just enough for the tourism organisations to promote farm attractions, there must be cash made available by the Stormont Executive and especially the Agriculture Department of Agriculture to help support any industry in the Province which is in the business of developing farm tourism. This must be one of the key objectives for the Assembly.
“For this also to be achieved, there must be a clean and well kept rural communities, and we also call on the roads people to ensure our roads are kept litter free.
“If Northern Ireland is to develop a booming farm tourism industry, we must equally ensure there is an effective partnership based on a policy of the three A’s – attractions, accommodation, and access.
“And it’s not just in the rural areas that this Triple A policy must be developed. We also want to make sure the excellent urban and rural shopping facilities are maximised to the full, and we again encourage shoppers to think local by buying local, and retailers to think local by stocking local.
“If we can achieve this partnership of the community, retailers, providers of accommodation and roads people, then there is every possibility Northern Ireland’s farm tourism industry can become one of the premier visitor attractions, not just our Province itself, but right throughout the United Kingdom,” said Mr Miller and Mr Carmichael.