Textile recycling provision on the Ards Peninsula needs urgent review, according to Alderman Robert Adair. The DUP representative has asked Ards and North Down Borough Council to examine its policy after receiving what he described as a high volume of complaints about overflowing clothing banks.

Only two council-owned clothing banks are currently available on the peninsula, at Greyabbey Village Hall and Portavogie Anchor car park. Adair said the bins have required weekly emptying during the summer months, with bags left around them becoming unsightly and attracting illegal dumping.

He said other council sites in Cloughey and Ballywalter were removed several years ago, while charity-run banks in Ballyhalbert and other villages have also disappeared. The council had previously planned to introduce kerbside textile recycling, but that proposal is no longer under consideration following a market collapse.

Adair also noted that using household recycling centres now requires advance booking, which he said many people cannot fit into their schedules. He argued the current provision is not working and that unless kerbside collection is introduced, more recycling facilities should be provided on the peninsula.