A small patch of land that’s operated by three different departments should be brought under one contractor, a councillor has said.
In the New Lodge , two sections of grass and a path in close proximity are maintained by three departments.
Sinn Fein Councillor JJ Magee told Belfast Live that it means that one section could be cleaned while the others aren’t.
The grass on the left of the below image is owned and maintained by the Housing Executive, the path by Belfast City Council and the grass on the right by the Department for Infrastructure (DFI).
Cllr Magee said: “The issue that constantly arises is issues of who owns which bit of land.
“The grass on this side (his right) is owned by the Housing Executive. The Housing Executive maintain this, they cut it pretty regularly and they clean it.
“The path is owned by Belfast City Council. Belfast City Council would clean the path. To my left, [the grass] is owned by DFI. DFI would have a twice a year cutting policy.
“The local residents, as they walk down, do not know that these issues exist.
“What we’re trying to do is improve things so that they either share the contract with one contractor, so that when this piece of grass is cut, this [other] piece of grass also gets cut. [So] when the bit on my right hand side gets clean, the bit on my left also gets cleaned.”
He said that it was “common sense that these departments get together and either share contracts, swap contracts or they do a little bit for each other”.
He added: “This is bound to save money in the long run, it makes it a better place for the community and they will constantly see their place constantly getting cleaned up.
“Rather that seeing the right hand side nice and clean and the left hand side bringing it down where they don’t see any change at all and all they see is a mess.”
A Belfast City Council spokesman said: “Council works proactively with a range of landowners across the city around good quality public realm and will continue to do so.”
A Housing Executive spokesperson said: "A joint meeting with all three statutory agencies involved took place at this site on Monday (September 2).
"Local elected representatives were also present and more meetings are planned."
The Department for Infrastructure has been contacted for comment.
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