A Finaghy councillor has met with residents to discuss a series of missed bin collections in the district.
 
Councillor Geraldine McAteer said that while construction work has been ongoing and may have hampered bin collection in some areas, there have also been ongoing issues in areas where there is no work taking place.
 
“I have been getting a lot of complaints from residents in Richmond, Beechmount, Marguerite Park, Diamond Gardens and Diamond Gate who are very frustrated about the missed bin collections," she said. 
 
“They do appreciate that we have major construction of sewerage pipes in the area which will ultimately alleviate the flooding in this district and we also have had industrial action, but there appear to be consistent problems with bin collections in parts of the area in which there is no construction going on. 
 
“I thought it was important to meet with all the key people on site to see what exactly the issues are and how they can be addressed."
 
Cllr McAteer said that she has met with the engineering project manager to look at ways in which bin lorries can be facilitated in the area and that this has been very helpful, in many cases assisting local residents by allowing them to leave their bins in an accessible location.
 
“Last Friday, I met a manager from the City Council cleansing department on site at 8:30am when the bins were being collected," she said. "As we walked around the area, he explained that there are very narrow street corners to get 35ft bin lorries around and this is made impossible if some cars happen to be parked out on the street.

“City Council staff lorry drivers are understandably not allowed to go up on pavements nor are they permitted to move street signs erected by the DfI (Department for Infrastructure) relating to the construction works.”

Cllr McAteer said they had discussed the possibility of using smaller bin lorries in the area and the need for greater co-operation between DfI, residents and local businesses about where their cars and lorries are parked on Friday mornings.
 
“I am hopeful of progress and will work to get some practical solutions,” she added. 
 
“It’s my very firm view that people pay their rates and they are entitled to get their bins collected and to be informed if there are going to be problems with collections. 
 
“In the current financial climate when bills are going up, people expect to have the service that they are paying hard-earned money for.
 
“We do have similar problems across the city and Sinn Féin has proposed that a task force be set up within Council, chaired by Lord Mayor Tina Black, to look at the current performance in terms of bin collections and street cleaning throughout neighbourhoods in Belfast and the city centre. 
 
“We want to ensure that we develop and maintain the highest standards in delivering a cleansing service for our residents and communities. We will examine what is required, whether we need additional fleet, for example smaller bin lorries, additional staff, recycling and additional expenditure from Council budgets.”