A 'culture change' is needed to tackle widespread fly-tipping in the Holyland area that is frustrating the community.
Local residents and councillors in the South Belfast area, popular for student housing, say that something needs to be done to stop the illegal dumping.
They say that nearly every alleyway in the area has been dumped in and that it is at its worst every year around this time as students begin to leave their houses and they are cleared.
One resident told Belfast Live: "Every year as the students leave their houses we get plagued with fly-tipping all over the holylands. Every single alleyway has been dumped in and the council is down here every single day cleaning it up.
"Most of the waste has come from student houses and HMOs that are being cleared out at this time of year.
"But instead of it being disposed of properly, it is just thrown into the alleyways without any care for the people living here."
Another resident suggested giving all of the houses in the Holyland area a black bin, as a solution to tackling the problem, believing that the large Eurobins in the area are being 'used as skips'.
They said: "The Eurobins that people are meant to use to get rid of their waste are being used as skips by landlords who are clearing out homes after students leave.
"They are dumping everything from household waste to furniture and white goods instead of getting rid of it properly.
"I think that if every household had a black bin that they could use, then they wouldn't be able to use these larger bins as skips."
Sinn Féin Botanic councillor John Gormley joined residents and council officers on Friday as they had a look at the widespread fly-tipping in the area.
He said that a "culture change" was needed in order to tackle the illegal dumping.
The councillor said: "There are always problems with fly-tipping in the Holylands but this time of year it is at its worst as tenants leave their homes and they are cleared by landlords.
"A change of culture and mindset is needed in order to find a solution to this, as we need HMOs to adhere to the rules with bins and the use of council services such as bulky waste collections.
"The fly-tipping is unsightly and causes a lot of upset in the local community.
"We need to look at whether the bin provision in the area is adequate and what enforcement action can be taken to encourage individuals to be responsible and play their part."
