Lisburn and Castlereagh Alliance Councillors have secured a commitment from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency that further investigation into an odour problem linked to Mullaghglass Landfill site on the outskirts of Lisburn will now take place.
Councillors Sorcha Eastwood, David Honeyford and Stephen Martin held the meeting recently in their latest drive to find a solution to the issue, which has been the source of many complaints from residents living nearby, after having previously raised it with Environmental Health Officials within Council.
During the meeting the NIEA also agreed to undertake further monitoring work, to be completed in a tight timeframe, and if results were not achieved, enforcement action would be taken.
Councillor Sorcha Eastwood said: “We have now secured a commitment from the NIEA to conduct further investigatory work and mitigations, if this does not yield results in a tight time frame, enforcement can and should be taken. The NIEA has confirmed that they will take action if positive results are not forthcoming. It is also incumbent on the Environment Minister to hold to account those operators who are not compliant with pollution controls and I would call on him to act.”
Councillor David Honeyford said: “With residents in my area of Killultagh being impacted by these odours on a daily basis over a long period of time, I have secured commitments from NIEA to engage directly with residents groups, which is useful and needed. However, these engagements must happen urgently as a matter of priority so people know the relevant authorities are listening.”
Alderman Stephen Martin, who has been dealing with the issue over many years for residents in Lisburn North, added: “We now need all relevant agencies to step up to the mark and join the NIEA who are clearly now putting effort into trying to resolve the issues. Councils working in partnership with Minister Poots and his Department can push this further. Communicating the facts will go a long way, but the bottom line is – this needs fixed urgently.”
The NIEA will update the Alliance Councillors following a meeting with the operators of the site later this week.