Councillor says Belfast residents should be using Lisburn recycling facility

At the October full meeting of Belfast City Council, People Before Profit Councillor Michael Collins told the chamber at City Hall that residents in the Collin area should be able to use the Cutts Household Recycling Centre.

The Collin district electoral area in south west Belfast, which includes Poleglass, Lagmore, Twinbrook, Ladybrook, Stewartstown and Dunmurry, has a population the equivalent of Newry, at over 34,000, but has no dedicated household recycling facility.

The Collin area used to be a part of the old Lisburn council, and became part of Belfast in 2015.

Councillor Collins said: “I want to welcome the fact that the council is looking at making a report into booking systems in our recycling centres. It talks about waste tourism, that is, basically people coming from outside of Belfast and dumping stuff in recycling centres.

“It says the issue has escalated since a neighbouring council has introduced a booking system for all site users in September 2023. I wanted to query, is that relating to the Cutts recycling centre and its refusal to allow Belfast to actually use it?

“I think this is wrong. There are thousands of people that live in the vicinity of this recycling centre (the Cutts) who aren’t able to use it, who are being denied access to it, from areas like Lagmore, Poleglass and Twinbrook.

“It is by far and away the nearest facility to them, but they are being denied access to it by Lisburn Castlereagh Council. I previously proposed writing to them, we did, and they got back to us some time ago to say they essentially weren’t going to change the system.

“To me it doesn’t make any sense, especially in areas where there are council boundaries. The Cutts is on a boundary between the Collin constituency and Lisburn Lagan Valley.

“It is particularly in those areas where there is a crossover, that councils need to work together. It is without precedence – you don’t go into a leisure centre and get asked for proof of address.

“We as a council need to do more to put pressure on Lisburn Castlereagh to make sure residents of Collin are able to avail of this recycling centre, given it is right on their doorstep.”

The update report at the full council states waste tourism is on the rise in Belfast, without specifically naming any other council area.

It states: “It is noted that all neighbouring councils have various policies and procedures in place, such as proof of residency or an online booking system for site users to restrict waste at their sites to that of their own rate payers.

“Staff at a number of recycling centres report an increase in site users which are not recognised as local and this also includes ‘man with a van’ type operations.

"This issue has escalated since the decision by a neighbouring council to implement a booking system for all site users in September 2023.

“This could obviously have a detrimental impact on both the council’s recycling rate and finances."