Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Councillors urged to ban release of balloons in Aberdeenshire

Post Thumbnail

Councillors are being urged to back plans for a ban on mass releases of balloons and lanterns.

Local authority officials want to outlaw the practice on council-owned land and at council-sponsored events even if they are on private ground.

Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee will discuss the issue later this week.

Plans for the ban have already been welcomed by conservationists, who regularly campaign against the mass release of balloons because of the impact they can have on the environment and wildlife.

A report prepared by the council’s director of infrastructure services, Stephen Archer, for Thursday’s meeting says: “The mass intentional releases of helium filled latex balloons and Chinese-sky lanterns have increased in recent years.

“These balloons and lanterns pose hazards to wildlife and livestock, causing injury and death.

“Lanterns can also cause injury to humans, damage to buildings and cause false call-outs to the coastguard.”

Remnants of lanterns – which are made of thin paper and lifted by the heat of a naked flame – were found at Forvie National Nature Reserve in 2013 and on farmland in Aberdeenshire.

Mr Archer’s report says that when a balloon is released it floats to an altitude of as much as five miles, where the temperature and pressure causes it to become brittle and fracture into pieces.

They then float back to earth and can take up to six months to degrade.

The pieces can last longer if they land on water and the remains of balloons have been found in the digestive systems dolphins.

A spokesman for the Marine Conservation Society welcomed the council’s proposals.

He said: “Any moves to reduce the number of balloons being released into the air are welcomed and this sounds like a very proactive approach which we would support.”