PRESS STATEMENT – PRESS STATEMENT – PRESS STATEMENT

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SDLP MLA BURNS: WELCOMES PROGRESS ON UNADOPTED ROADS

SDLP South Antrim MLA Thomas Burns has welcomed a breakthrough at Antrim Borough Council which will see bins and recycling containers collected from unadopted roads.  

He said: “The problem of unadopted roads has been allowed to get out of control in the Antrim Borough Council area and the Department for Regional Development must take a lot of the blame for this.

“The list of unadopted roads in the South Antrim constituency is as long as your arm. Crumlin, Randalstown and Antrim town are all particularly badly affected.

“The inconvenience this has caused residents, particularly the elderly and infirm, must not be understated. The issue with bin lorries not entering unadopted streets has been particularly bothersome. Asking pensioners to move heavy bins several hundred meters to designated collection points on cold winter nights is simply unacceptable.

“I am delighted that Antrim Borough Council has now approved a policy to collect refuse and recycling containers from unadopted roads. However these collections will only commence after a positive inspection of the street by a delegated officer has taken place. Householders should continue to take their bins to the central collection points until informed otherwise.

“I have been working very hard on this issue both at Council and in Assembly. At Antrim Borough Council we have done our bit, now developers and Roads Service must do theirs.

“After a lot of pressure from myself and other elected representatives Transport Minister Conor Murphy has finally agreed to establish a team to determine whether the Private Streets Order (Northern Ireland, 1980) is out of date. This is long overdue. The law is not fit for purpose. It must be modernized and the adoption process must be streamlined.”

ENDS