Reps hit out at 'hokey-cokey' advice and 'whack-a-mole' strategies, as council thanks residents for their patience over waste collection woes

A SPECIAL council meeting has taken place to discuss issues around black bin and recycling box collection, which have persisted since the Waste Harmonisation Scheme rolled out in the legacy Antrim area in September.

The agenda for the meeting at Mossley Mill said: “The following request has been received by the Mayor to convene a Special Council Meeting.

“Despite an assurance given by Bryson, our constituents continue to experience a far from satisfactory service.

“We therefore request a meeting, with or without Bryson representation, to collectively voice our concerns and consider the recovery.”

The agenda said that there would also be a presentation of the background to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s engagement with Bryson, and the ‘Performance Report’ and ‘Recovery Plan’ would also be outlined.

The Bryson contract and ‘Bryson Operational Recovery and Contingency Measures’ were due to be discussed ‘in confidence’, out of earshot of the Press and public.

However on Tuesday night, the ‘Performance Report’ and ‘Recovery Plan’ were moved into the confidential part of the meeting, apparently for legal and contractual reasons.

One DUP rep, former Mayor Alderman Stephen Ross left the meeting at this point.

Earlier, the meeting opened with a presentation from Director of Environmental Services and Sustainability, Michael Laverty, who noted that Bryson Recycling collected black bins and wheelie boxes, while Avenue was responsible for brown bins.

All waste collection, he said, had been outsourced since 2020.

Mr Laverty said that the initial issues had been caused by staff absenteeism and the difficulties of Bryson to retain staff.

The Director said that ‘project preparation’ on behalf of the contractor could have been better and that most of the issues related to wheelie box collections.

He said that up until Christmas, 95% per cent of collections were ‘same day’ but that changed collection days over the festive period combined with the bad weather had meant a ‘significant fall-off in service’.

However he said that on Monday and Tuesday, it was reported that services were returning to normal with a high rate of ‘same day’ collections.

He noted that all figures were provided by Bryson, but that they tallied with council officers’ research.

Mr Laverty also pointed out that Bryson staff had been working evening and weekends to help rectify the situation.

The floor was then opened to party group leaders’ statements.

Councillor Billy Webb of Alliance said that despite being a supporter of the scheme, collection of recycling in parts of Antrim and Newtownabbey had ‘failed our residents’.

He said that ratepayers were paying for a service they were ‘repeatedly not receiving’ and that ‘we all have a responsibility to provide a voice for constituents’.

Councillor Webb said that there had been a ‘relentless volume’ of complaints ‘since well before Christmas’ and that elected reps felt they were being forced to ‘defend the indefensible’, adding that both residents and councillors were ‘deeply frustrated’.

He also slammed a lack of communications and said that the ‘hokey cokey’ advice of ‘keep them out, take them in’: “Would almost be laughable if it hadn’t caused such confusion.”.

Councillor Webb also praised council staff and officers, including the Chief Executive and Directors, who had all been trying to get the issue resolved.

Councillor Robert Foster of the UUP, a project manager himself, put forward a number of suggestions, noting that his own kerbie boxes had not been lifted as of Tuesday evening.

He said that no one needed ‘a post mortem or a history lesson’ and that ‘laser focus’ was needed.

He proposed that a council staff member be seconded to the Bryson facility ‘at Bryson’s expense’ and that a dedicated hub be set up at council’s end.

Councillor Foster also proposed that the seven district electoral areas each had a dedicated point of contact that elected members could avail of, and that a formal ‘lessons learned’ exercise be carried out.

He added: “The goal here is excellence. Not all residents use out leisure centres and parks, but all have their bins collected.”

Next was DUP Airport Alderman Matthew Magill, who criticised ‘poor communication’ and said that elected members had been given differing advice and information, which then left elected members giving ‘inaccurate information’ to ratepayers.

He added that the mechanism of standing orders meant that special meetings were usually called to discuss ‘the most grave of local and national events’, and no one should underestimate the seriousness of this issue.

Alderman Magill said that transparency and accountability was required.

He said that while his party appreciated the contractual and legal restriction on discussing some parts of the contract, it was important that the public was kept informed.

He repeated that ‘bins and burials’ were core functions of the council and it was ‘deeply regrettable’ that the patience of his party and ratepayers was wearing thin.

Antrm Town SDLP member Roisin Lynch said it was ‘encouraging’ to hear that additional resources are now in place and that performance was improving, and that ‘both Bryson and Council officers are closely monitoring delivery’.

She said that real improvement was now needed for households on the ground.

“I remain hopeful that with the steps now being taken, residents will soon see the dependable service they deserve.” she added.

Sinn Fein Airpoer Councillor Maighréad Ní Chonghaile said that there had been a ‘significant effect’ on front-line workers, who had been working ‘extremely hard’ and that they should not be blamed for ‘structural deficiencies’.

She also said that there were frustrations with ‘poor communications’ and that confidence in the service was diminishing.

Councillor Ní Chonghaile said that the issues of staffing and weather were ‘not unexpected’ and should be anticipated by a ‘resilient, modern business’.

She said relying on ‘overtime, goodwill and short-term staffing’ was not sustainable.

She said that Sinn Fein had opposed the outsourcing of waste collection in 2019 and said that in future, the council should consider restoring the function to be carried out in-house, at the end of the contract with Bryson or before, if legally possible.

The rep also said that the contract should be enforced and that there should be sanctions for non-compliance.

Independent Councillor Stafford Ward said: “They tell me tomorrow, tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes.”

He said that in his area, local people had voluntarily taken pensioners’ bins to the dump, and reported ‘vans driving up and down the street, doing half the street but not the other’ and that cul-de -sacs were being missed.

Another Independent rep, Councillor Michael Stewart said he was hopeful of improvements and that current standards had fallen ‘far short of what was expected’.

He also called for accountability and transparency and complained of ‘mistaken and inaccurate’ information being fed to councillors, who then passed this on to residents in good faith.

Councillor Stewart said that the issue was playing out ‘in broadcast, print and social media’ and said that the current ‘whack-a-mole’ stratgy was ‘not suustainable’.

“We need results not rhetoric, solutions, not soundbites’.

All speakers reiterated that the fault did not lie with the council, its staff, or frontline Bryson workers.

The statements were noted, proposed by Councillor Foster and seconded by Councillor Lynch.

A council statement released on Tuesday night said: “A Special Council Meeting was held at Mossley Mill on Tuesday 20 January 2026 at the request of Elected Members.

“The meeting enabled Elected Members to further raise the concerns of residents about Bryson’s waste and recycling collection service in advance of their meeting with the Group’s Chief Executive who will be attending the Full Council Meeting on Monday 26 January 2026.

“During the meeting, the Director of Environment Services & Sustainability gave a presentation which focused on the current situation with waste collection services, background to the Council’s engagement with Bryson Recycling, and details of an agreed recovery plan.

“After the presentation, representatives from each of the parties read a statement expressing their concerns and reiterating their demand that waste and recycling collection services provided by Bryson Recycling are restored to the required standards.

A Council spokesperson said, “While the Council recognises there have been substantial improvements to the waste service collection in the past week and that Bryson Recycling is strategically addressing the compounding issues; we are also very mindful of the frustration and impact these issues are having on our ratepayers.

“With that at the forefront we look forward to discussing these issues with the Chief Executive Officer of the Bryson Group at the Full Council Meeting on 26 January and sharing the experiences of our constituents and the main issues impacting the Borough.

“The Council will continue to stringently monitor and manage all aspects of this waste contract and recovery plan until the previous high standard of service from Bryson Recycling is resumed. We would like to sincerely thank the residents of our Borough for their patience and understanding during this challenging time”.

See more in the paper next week!