Bulky collection delays of eight weeks have caused concern in Lisburn and Castlereagh (LCCC) with elected reps saying “something is not working”.

The local authority has been criticised for long time-lines given to ratepayers as well as limited collection sizes, such as American style fridges.

However, a recent environment committee has been told that a new refuse fleet will allow for more bulky items to be collected, though more staff may also need to be employed to resolve the waiting time problem.

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Councillors raise concerns over time frame for bulky collections. Pic credit: NIWD

placeholder image — Lisburn and Castlereagh City Councillors raise concerns over time frame for bulky collections. Pic credit: NIWD

Councillor Andrew Gowan said:”Personally, I requested a bulky collection on July 26, and I was surprised when the date came back for that was September 19.

“That is the guts of eight weeks. I’ve had other people contact me saying they’ve had similar responses.

"There is clearly something not working there. I think eight weeks is well beyond what we should be providing for customers.”

Alderman Martin Gregg added: “Around household bulky collections, apparently we don’t as a council lift American style fridge freezers.

“To me there is an awful lot of American fridge freezers that have been sold over the years and should be getting collected, to be brought back for recycling.

“I know there was talk about a new fleet that was to arrive pretty soon, but I don’t know whether the new vehicles will allow for American fridge freezer collections.

“Also, the time-line for these collections is not practical.

“Whenever anyone rings up and asks for a household bulky collection, they are given a time-line of three weeks.

“I understand that in certain circumstances it can be accelerated, but I don’t think in any normal circumstances three weeks is in any way realistic or acceptable.”

A council officer responded: “Bit of good news, those vehicles have arrived and we are now able to accept those American style fridge freezers.

"The size of the old vehicles were restrictive and we were just not able to get them on.

"That has now been overcome and is not not a problem.“As for time lines for collections it is at about 10 days to two weeks, which can fluctuate seasonally and greater demands can be made on the service.“Simply the alternatives are more staff and more resources or to limit the items we lift.”