Stranmillis residents have said their area is "becoming a mess" as bins sit for weeks on end in the street and they are frequently woken at night by fireworks.
Those living in the South Belfast area say that something needs to be done to improve the area, which they say is constantly covered in rubbish due to bins sitting on the street for weeks without being moved and fly-tipping in the alleyways.
They have also said that there are growing anti-social behaviour problems in the area which has seen residents woken late in the night due to fireworks being set off.
Read more: Concern as 'fireworks thrown at people' and 'cars jumped on' in the Holyland
Speaking to Belfast Live, Colin Shaw and Alicia Mullholland said that something needs to be done to tackle the issues in the area and that they believe the culture of HMOs and short term rents has led people to not take care of it.
Colin said: "While there are some residents here who work hard to make sure their streets are clean and tidy, there are other streets where bins will sit for weeks and weeks without ever being moved.
"There can be some streets where there could be 60 bins sitting there all week after being collected and some that are never collected at all due to the mess they have been left in.
"People parking in front of the entries and blocking them also causes problems with bin collections, as the collection staff are unable to access them so they are missed entirely. This has led to some of the alleyways in the area becoming covered in rubbish and flytipping that attracts pests and other problems."
Alicia said that anti-social behaviour is also a growing issue in the area and that some residents have moved from it entirely due to the disruption they were facing.
She said: "We often hear about anti-social behaviour in other parts of South Belfast like the Holyland, but there are similar problems in Stranmillis as well.
"This year we have had issues with fireworks being set off late at night alongside the disruption from parties. There are some people who have moved here recently who have had to leave the area due to the ongoing problems.
"I big part of the problem is that there is a large number of HMOs and short term rentals here, where people will only be living in the area for a year and told have the same care for its upkeep."
SDLP councillor Gary McKeown said multi-agency attention is needed to address issues faced by residents living in Stranmillis village.
Councillor McKeown said: “People living in Stranmillis are in contact with me on a constant basis as they are at their wits’ end about issues they are facing, but don’t know where to turn. In some respects, this area and nearby neighbourhoods such as the lower Lisburn Road are among Belfast’s forgotten communities. There is a lack of adequate infrastructure and an absence of attention paid to their needs, so it is important that their voice is heard and listened to.
“For example, although fly-tipping in the entries here is a year-round problem, the issue really came to a head during the summer with a massive increase in the amounts being dumped and how often it was happening, and while frontline staff do a fantastic job in trying to respond to problems like this when they arise and enforcement has been increased, there does seem to be a disjointedness and lack of strategic approach.
“This part of Stranmillis has always had a real village feel about it, with fantastic local cafés and shops, Botanic Gardens on your doorstep, and Queen’s just around the corner, but issues facing the community have gotten progressively worse with more and more people crammed into housing here without the infrastructure to cope with it.
“However, there are some things that can be done now to start to get on top of these issues, with better planning in the medium term helping to turn things around.
“For example, we know there is a big turnover of people moving in and out of the area every year. Something as simple as getting correspondence out to every property highlighting how bins and recycling should be presented in each street, what the collection days are, and what the penalties are for fly-tipping, could reduce the recurrence of stuff being dumped in the entries.
"It would also mean that no one has any excuse for not knowing what to do with their waste. We also need an audit to check that there are adequate bins and recycling kit to cover the number of people living here, and that lifts are taking place as planned, to reduce the problem of overflowing.
“In the medium term, we should also be looking at an approach in areas that we anticipate will be worst affected each year as a result of house clearances and proactively plan for this. This will prevent a greater cost to the ratepayer in terms of clean-up, and be better for residents and the environment. It’ll also free up resources to undertake other actions such as tackling dog fouling and graffiti.
“We also need government departments to take responsibility. I know residents are really concerned about speeding cars using the area as a rat run. On top of this, the community is regularly faced with missed bin and recycling collections due to bad parking, which prevents the lorries getting access, adding to the waste and environmental problems.
"The Department for Infrastructure must take decisive action in terms managing traffic and parking in the area and increasing enforcement against those who block roads and entries. I have also discussed this with the police, as they have a role to play in terms of dealing with speeding and obstructions.
“Residents have also been crying out for alleygates to try to reduce antisocial behaviour and fly-tipping. The council has ring-fenced £500,000 plus significant officer time to provide alleygates across Belfast under the current programme, but sadly this will not even get near providing gating in Stranmillis.
"Alleygates are primarily aimed at tackling crime and ASB, so it is time that the Department of Justice steps up to the mark and match-funds the council’s financial commitment to this so we can start to meet the needs of people in areas such as Stranmillis who deserve gates, and I have secured council’s agreement that we write to the Justice Minister requesting this.
“I have also secured confirmation that the recently-appointed Intervention Officer, who is working to bring together the work of various agencies in the university area, will be able to include communities such as Stranmillis and the lower Lisburn Road in this.
"We need to avoid finding solutions in one area which push problems into others – this needs genuine collaborative effort across statutory agencies. We need to create a better living environment for everyone who wants to make this area their home, including long-term residents, students, workers, families and retired people.”
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Our waste collection vehicles sometimes experience problems accessing streets due to badly parked vehicles which can lead to delays in collections. Where this occurs, rather than leaving bins out overnight, we ask residents to bring their bin back into their property and present it at its normal collection point the following day between 7am and 7pm.
“We continue to raise these issues with our city partners. While we don't have powers to take action around parking or obstructions on pavements and streets, we regularly highlight the impact of poor parking on essential services, including our own, via our social media channels and our residents' magazine.”
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