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Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford and Castlereagh councillor Michael Henderson has welcomed the announcement from the Department of the Environment that UK retailers have agreed to reduce the overall environmental impact of their carrier bags by 25% by the end of 2008.

In a statement Cllr Henderson said:

“I welcome the commitment by retailers to reduce the environmental impact of bags by encouraging customers to significantly reduce the number of carrier bags they use, reducing the impact of each carrier bag (e.g. by using less material or incorporating recycled content); and enabling the recycling of more carrier bags where appropriate.”

He added: “Some supermarkets such as Tesco are already actively promoting the reuse of plastic bags by offering reward points to customers to reuse their plastic bags but I am very pleased to see that all supermarkets have committed to this as well.”

“Cutting the number of plastic bags will reduce pollution and the move is a positive step forward in the sort of responsible thinking we need in order to really tackle the issue of global warming.”

Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford and Castlereagh Councillor Michael Henderson has welcomed the decision of Castlereagh, Ards, North Down and Down Borough Councils to announce a dangerous dog amnesty for the month of March.

Cllr Henderson said:

“Castlereagh, Ards, North Down and Down Borough Council are following the lead of Ballymena Council who were the first in the UK to introduce the amnesty. In the first such scheme in the UK, Ballymena Borough Council gave owners of pit-bulls and other dogs bred for fighting a month to hand in animals without fear of prosecution.

“In Belfast, since the scheme was introduced, almost 50 pit-bull terriers have been surrendered to Belfast City Council since May of last year. Eighteen of the 49 dogs were handed over this January, the council said.

“The reason behind this amnesty is so people can come forward and hand over their dogs without fear of prosecution. Given the dangerous and often unpredictable nature of these animals, this is a forward step to take to protect the vulnerable in our community.”

Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford and Chairman of Castlereagh District Policing Partnership Michael Henderson has welcomed news this week that reported crime has dropped in the Castlereagh area.

The District Policing Partnership in Castlereagh had set targets for reducing crime but these were met and far exceeded, a DPP meeting was told on Wednesday evening.

Incidents of domestic burglary between April and December 2006 were reduced by over 50%, vehicle crime was reduced by 30% and criminal damage was reduced by 10%.

In a statement Cllr Henderson said:

“I am absolutely delighted by these figures showing a big drop in reported crime, far exceeding the targets we had set for ourselves in Castlereagh. However it is vital that we remain vigilant and build on this progress to reduce crime levels even further to build this progress and improve the local community.

“I am pleased with the progress made by the police in the area and I would appeal to everyone to work with the police and to report all incidents so we can really tackle crime”.

Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford and Castlereagh Councillor Michael Henderson has welcomed a renewable energy awareness showcase at Forestside Shopping Centre as part of the RECONNECT programme funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

In a statement Cllr Henderson said:

“I warmly welcome the £8million investment by the Government into making renewable energy systems accessible to everyone through a small grants scheme. This initiative, which is delivered by Action Renewables, offers grants of up to 50% to private homeowners seeking to install domestic renewable energy systems. These range from solar panels to small scale wind turbines, wood fuelled boilers to geothermal heat pumps.

“As well as being environmentally friendly, renewable energy solutions can also save households money on electricity and heating as fuel prices continue to spiral out of control and out access”

“Stewardship of Northern Ireland’s environment is a responsibility for all of us.”

Action Renewables will be at Forestside Shopping Centre on Saturday 24 February 2007 from 10am to 5pm and on Sunday 25 February 2007 from 1pm to 5pm.

Ulster Unionist candidate for Strangford, Castlereagh Councillor Michael Henderson has described the DUP as being in disarray, referring to the DUPs £2000 penalty for speaking out of line and the post dated resignation letter, Cllr Henderson added that if Ian Paisley didn’t even trust his own candidates how can the people of Northern Ireland?

In a statement Cllr Henderson said,

“The DUP campaign is about the tired re-hashing of old lies and self-serving comfort blanket politics. It should be remembered that for all their huff and puff about sharing power, the DUP took Executive posts and were Ministers in the previous Executive. This hypocrisy cannot go unchecked nor be conveniently be airbrushed out of history. The people of Northern Ireland are not stupid! Nobody knows what the DUP position is and to go into an election on a ticket of vagueness and innuendo is fundamentally dishonest. The electorate deserve and expect more.

Also, how can the public be expected to trust the DUPs candidates when their party leader clearly doesn’t? By forcing them to sign post-dated letters of resignation, Ian Paisley is saying that he doesn’t trust them to do his bidding so he has taken draconian measures to keep them in line. This is because he has clearly done his deal with Blair and Sinn Fein but fears that not all his candidates would back him if it is left to their own consciences.

Never before in British Parliamentary history has a party leader forced his candidates to sign such letters. It flies in the face of British standards which see the individual candidate become an elected representative with his/her own freedom to make decisions on behalf of constituents. What we have today is the nomination of stooges who can be wiped out by their Leader in consultation with a few families in his party. So much for freedom of speech and democracy!

The DUP is a party deeply uneasy with itself. It craves power but cannot handle the responsibility that comes with it. It is divided on the way forward and petrified of committing to anything. They are weak, lack confidence and are a reflection of the dire political straits that they find themselves in.”