Belfast City Council has called on Lisburn and Castlereagh Council to cease using Mullaghglass landfill for domestic waste.
The site was due to cease accepting domestic waste in January 2022. However, in November, the Andersonstown News reported that Lisburn Council had decided to continue using the landfill until October 2022. The decision sparked outrage amongst residents in the Colin area who have long been plagued by odour emanating from the landfill for years.
At Tuesday's meeting of Belfast City Council's People and Communities Committee, councillors agreed to write to Lisburn Council's Environmental Services Committee urging it to reverse the decision.
People Before Profit Councillor Michael Collins, who put forward the proposal, said: "We have had thousands of complaints, protests, petitions and now multiple legal actions taken against both the site owners, and local authorities.
"Despite this, Lisburn and Castlereagh Council sees fit to continue using the site. It is simply not good enough, and amounts to an insult to the thousands of residents who've diligently campaigned to demand clean air."
He said it was a welcome step that Belfast City Council had agreed to stop using Mullaghglass in 2022.
"Tonight I proposed that Lisburn and Castlereagh Council must now follow suit with Belfast. I urged Council to begin formal correspondence with the Environmental Services Committee in Lisburn, which voted to continue using Mullaghglass.
"Council will now urge them to reverse this decision. Again, I will be following this up in the coming weeks and will inform residents of any developments."
Meanwhile, the operators of Mullaghglass Landfill, Alpha Resource Management, will go to Lisburn Magistrate's Court to appeal a Section 65 Abatement Notice served by Belfast City Council over the site in April 2021.The notice forced the firm to review its odour management arrangements and abate the nuisance odour.
Alpha Resource Management had previously lodged a Judicial Review application to challenge the Abatement Notice.
A leave hearing took place on 6 December 2021, and the application was dismissed on 29 December on the grounds that its earlier appeal to the Magistrate's could deal with the issue. The site operator has renewed its application for leave to apply for Judicial Review before Court of Appeal, which is due to be heard on 4 March 2022.
The Andersonstown News has contacted Alpha Resource Management and is awaiting a response.
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Belfast City Council has had extensive involvement in investigating odour emanating from Mullaghglass landfill site for some time and has been working with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the licensing authority, to establish the cause.
"Council issued a notice upon the site operator, Alpha Resource Management, in April 2021 requiring it to abate the nuisance arising from the odour emanating from Mullaghglass Landfill site pursuant to Section 65 of the Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act (NI) 2011. That notice is now subject to appeal. Given the ongoing legal proceedings, the council cannot comment further at this time."
