COUNCIL officials have been asked to help residents at the Station Mews development in Saintfield get their bins emptied.
Bin lorries were unable to access the area two weeks ago as parked cars were blocking the entrance.
Despite residents’ plea for 10 brown bins packed with rotting food waste to be lifted they have still not been emptied.
Rowallane councillor Billy Walker has contacted Newry, Mourne and Down Council officials on behalf of residents and hopes the situation will be resolved.
He said a first step must be for council officials to approach people who park close to the entrance to Station Mews, asking them to leave the access clear on bin collection days.
Cllr Walker said another option would be to ask roads officials to provide double yellow lines at the entrance to the development, but hopes this will not be necessary and agreement on the way forward can be reached.
“It is simply not acceptable to have food rotting in people’s bins, particularly at this time of year,” he said.
“I have been in contact with council officials who have informed me they are aware of the situation at Station Mews.”
Cllr Walker said he has been informed by local authority officials that they will endeavour to empty the brown bins as soon as possible, explaining bin collections in a number of areas are currently not on schedule.
“It is quite possible that what happened at the Saintfield development could reoccur. That is why it’s essential council officials contact the car owners to make them aware their vehicles are preventing bin lorries from accessing Station Mews,” he continued.
“A number of issues have arisen with bin and bulky waste collection services over recent weeks and I will be formally raising the matter at today’s meeting of the local authority’s Regulatory and Technical Services Committee.”
Cllr Walker added: “Any delay in emptying bins is regrettable. It impacts on residents and the local authority’s bin collection schedule. What is particularly concerning about the incident at Station Mews is that we are talking about brown bins filled with food waste.
“Asking people not to block the entrance to the development is the easy answer and I hope council officials will do this as soon as possible. It may be that the car owners do not realise what they have done. That is why it is important they are contacted as soon as possible.”