Statement by TUV Castleragh councillor Andrew Girvin:
“This week I received a call from a concerned neighbour of a 96 year old lady whose Housing Executive house garden in Knocknagoney had become over grown.
“Hedging, large branches and bushes all needed trimmed back and tidied up. Obviously this was too much for her to even think about tackling.
“I made a call to the Belfast Housing Executive to see if they could get a team of workers out to help Edna, who is quite frail and finds it hard to walk but was informed that they do not help tidy or cut anyone’s Housing Executive garden no matter how old they are. I understand not attending young people’s houses or families of those that are able, but surely common sense and community support in the case of a 96 year old lady should prevail.
“After being told that the Housing Executive would not help, some of the neighbours and myself managed to get a few hedge trimmers together and started the process of attending to the garden.
“During this time I phoned Belfast City Council to see if they could lift all the foliage. After an hour or so the Council came through and said they’d help by collecting all of the waste and they told us they’d also empty the six brown bins that neighbours had so kindly lent to us. The Council was more than helpful and we appreciated that.
“A couple of hours before finishing we also had a volunteer from Oasis – the community charity run by Willowfield Church of Ireland – come down with a petrol hedge cutter which helped tidy the hedging and trees up.
“I would like to put a proposal forward to the Housing Executive on such extreme cases where residents are elderly or disabled that an assessment could be carried out. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that elderly residents would need their over growing trees, bushes and hedging trimmed back.
“The slippy moss and greenery that grows on residents’ pathways will create a very dangerous and slippery area which will be added to by leaves as we enter Autumn. No one should have health and safety concerns about leaving their home.
“I would encourage the Housing Executive to look at this concerning issue and re-evaluate their standing on these matters.”