Authorised Sheep Dip Disposal Areas in Northern Ireland

Authorised Sheep Dip Disposal Areas is a spatial dataset showing fields across Northern Ireland with approved authorisations for discharging hazardous substances or non-hazardous pollutants, primarily for sheep dip disposal. The data was compiled in 2009 under the Groundwater Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 and is being updated. It is provided by the Government Digital Service.

Use Cases

• Map and monitor authorised disposal sites for environmental compliance based on the spatial layer.
• Analyze the distribution of agricultural chemical disposal areas to inform groundwater protection policies.
• Integrate land use data with regulatory authorisations for spatial planning and risk assessment.

Strengths

• Data is explicitly linked to a specific regulatory framework, the Groundwater Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009.
• Available in multiple geospatial formats (KML, ESRI SHAPE, GEOJSON) for interoperability.

Limitations

• The base data was compiled in 2009; the description states it is being updated, but the last update date is unknown.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Compiled for regulatory authorisation under the Groundwater Regulations.

Time Range

Base data from 2009.

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Northern Ireland