Council officers estimate that 30% of incidents go unreported
Fly-tipping is getting worse in East Belfast, but South still tops the board for fixed penalties, new data shows.
Figures revealed by Belfast City Council officials to elected representatives this week surrounding fly-tipping across the city have provoked a mixture of scepticism and frustration.
Data shows East Belfast has received the most customer requests/complaints from the council customer hub this year, while South Belfast consistently remains the worst area for fixed penalties on fly-tipping.
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At the October meeting of the council’s People and Communities Committee, elected representatives discussed the figures. These included data covering fixed penalty notices by area for littering and fly-tipping, from April 2022 to March 2025.
Over the last five years, a total of 854 court cases have been heard, relating to littering, fly tipping and failing to respond to Article 20 Notice.
South Belfast was well ahead with 364 fixed penalty notices in 2022/23, 426 in 2023/24, and 288 in 2024/25. East Belfast was second with 137 fixed penalty notices in 2022/23, 127 in 2023/24, and 148 in 2024/25.
North Belfast was next with 61 fixed penalty notices in 2022/23, 137 in 2023/24, and 134 in 2024/25. West Belfast had the least with 27 fixed penalty notices in 2022/23, 104 in 2023/24, and 108 in 2024/25.
Data involving requests to the council customer hub on fly tipping were also revealed by area. In 2021 and 2022, South Belfast had the worst figures, in 2023 and 2024 North had the worst, and East Belfast has the worst figures so far this year.
In 2023, there were 266 for Belfast Central, 928 for East Belfast, 1064 for North Belfast, 691 for South Belfast and 631 for West Belfast.
In 2024, there were 234 for Belfast Central, 972 for East Belfast, 1175 for North Belfast, 602 for South Belfast and 481 for West Belfast. So far in 2025, there are 144 for Belfast Central, 843 for East Belfast, 710 for North Belfast, 452 for South Belfast and 413 for West Belfast.
The top streets by request for littering and fly-tipping were Tamery Pass in the East, Crimea Close in the North, Donegal Road in the South, and Cavendish Street in the West.
During the meeting at City Hall, committee chair, DUP Councillor Ruth Brooks said: “I do feel my area of East Belfast is being absolutely slaughtered in terms of the cleansing team having to go out and deal with repeat issues. As soon as items are being lifted we have items being tipped again.
“There has been a lot of building waste where homes have been flipped over for a new private rental. These items are now appearing in our alleyways.”
She added: “The “broken window” effect is absolutely correct. We have a fantastic cleansing team in East Belfast that will come out and clear on the day, but we have this issue where people are just throwing stuff out knowing it will be collected anyway.”
She said: “I think the trend is concerning in East Belfast – we are already sitting at 843 customer requests for fly-tipping (this year) but over the whole of last year we had 972. East Belfast is really on course to surpass previous numbers in requests for fly-tipping, which is reflective of the information I am getting on the ground.”
She added: “It just simply can’t keep going the way it is going. It has become my daily complaint, and I don’t ever feel like we are getting a full handle on it.”
A council officer said: “The customer hub data is a snapshot that is one source that provides us data on customer complaints, but it doesn’t fully reflect the true extent of fly-tipping across the city. It is estimated that 30 percent of incidents go unreported.
“We also get requests directly to the enforcement teams, which don’t necessarily go into the customer hub to give us a true representation. Even though we have a top 20, the unreported could totally change the context.”
She added: “But we have feet on the ground and intelligence that we use to build a true picture, so we are able to target our resources daily.”
Alliance Councillor Micky Murray said: “We know about the considerable amount of resources put into the Holyland, lower Lisburn Road, streets where there is continual fly-tipping. (People) just usually go to South Belfast reps to get it sorted, so (the data) is probably not reflective.
“When I looked at those numbers, and saw that South Belfast was the third lowest – I just don’t believe South Belfast has that positive a picture, as the report makes it seem. And I certainly am not aware of the enforcement action in South Belfast being better than it has been before. That is not what we are hearing from local residents.”
SDLP Councillor Gary McKeown said: “I think there is more the council can be doing to address the issue. Firstly the customer hub, I don’t think it is fit for purpose. I have seen paper trails from members of the community reporting stuff through to it, who have drawn a blank, and the issues they have raised have not been addressed. I have tried using it – I have found it very frustrating and just don’t bother anymore.”
He added: “Secondly I think there are strategic things we can do in particular areas where we know hot-spots exist, for example Stranmillis Village, the Holyland, Lower Lisburn Road. We know like clockwork there will be issues raised there.”
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