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BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA proposed trial to install a waste needle bin in Belfast city centre is not a “silver bullet” but one step to dealing with drugs issues in the city, a councillor has said.<\/p>\n Brian Smyth was speaking ahead of a Belfast City Council vote on Thursday on whether or not to install the bin in the council-owned car park on Little Donegall Street.<\/p>\n Councillors chose the car park over a site on Corporation Square at the People and Communities Committee last month. <\/p>\n Green Party representative Smyth said the council was lifting between 600 and 700 needles a month in the city centre, with other organisations also involved in the collection of needles. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n A council report stated there had been an increase in needle finds in recent months and it had been “highlighted as being in the top six locations” for discarded needles. <\/p>\n The proposed metal needle bin will be concreted to the ground and will provide a secure way of disposing of sharps.<\/p>\n Smyth had previously tabled motions for similar bins to be placed in Writer’s Square, however this is not council land. <\/p>\n He said the Department for Communities (DfC) had turned down this call. <\/p>\n “They are worried about image but I would say if needles continue to be found in the area of high significance, then that’s going to provide an image problem,” he said.<\/p>\n A DfC spokesperson said it recognised that drug abuse and associated anti-social behaviour in the city centre was a major issue and was working closely with other organisations, including the council, to tackle the problems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Smyth said members of the council’s cleansing team had found needles disposed in regular rubbish bins. <\/p>\n “This poses a risk not only to them but also to members of the public,” he said. <\/p>\n “Whilst this is a very small response, I think we need to get our heads around the bigger issue of rising drug use in and around Belfast city centre and how we tackle it.”<\/p>\n In March 2023, Belfast City councillors passed a motion in favour of setting up a safe injecting facility to help prevent overdoses among drug users.<\/p>\n The council has no legal power to open a facility and a change in legislation would be required for this to happen.<\/p>\n The aim would be to reduce overdoses and drug-related harm as well as making drug use less visible to the community.<\/p>\n Smyth said such a facility could make the area safe for “people who live, work and socialise in the city centre”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Damian McNairney, a volunteer and trustee from The People’s Kitchen in Belfast, said the bin would help but described Belfast city centre as being in a drug crisis. <\/p>\n The kitchen offers support to vulnerable and homeless people. <\/p>\n “We need to be more adventurous, we need to be more compassionate in our approach to the issue,” said Mr McNairney. <\/p>\n “Addicts are being demonised, we need to look and see if we can help.<\/p>\n “If we solve the problem at source, i.e. the addiction, then we are going to be able to deal with the drug paraphernalia and the other issues allied to that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250409-091508-0ef9b7676-web-2.19.1-12\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNeedles found in rubbish <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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