FENCING erected around a loyalist bonfire site to stop fly-tipping and materials toppling onto a main road has cost the public almost £2,400.
Unionist councillors welcomed the move, but others fear the small fence will simply become extra firewood for bonfire builders.
The site beside Milltown Hill, close to Shaw's Bridge in south Belfast, was enclosed with the picket fence in recent days by the local council.
Further fencing has also been erected on the opposite side of the road by the Housing Executive (NIHE).
Safety concerns have been raised about the towering annual bonfire in the past, including police previously cordoning off the road due to fears the pyre was unstable.
There have also been issues with rubbish being dumped.
It has now emerged that Belfast City Council spent around £2,100 on its picket fence, while NIHE spent £256 on its own metal fencing.
SDLP councillor Donal Lyons said his "five-year-old daughter could knock over the fence".
And when I said my 5 year old daughter could knock the fence down, I wasn't entirely exaggerating pic.twitter.com/YhjGKIAluI
— Donal Lyons (@DonalLyons) 18 May 2017
"Anything that can be done to reduce the harmful impact of the Milltown bonfire, and particularly the dumping of rubbish leading up to it, is to be welcomed. Saying that, it's hard to see what staking out a small patch of ground with some wooden sticks is going to achieve," he said.
"I can't see how it will act as a deterrent to anyone... To be honest my suspicion is that the fence is going to end up being part of the pile of scrap wood. If this ends up being the case, the council will have spent over £2,000 literally just to add fuel to the fire."
He added: "It also fundamentally misses the point that it's the dumping of bonfire material that is the eyesore in the first place."
The Department for Infrastructure said the picket fence was erected on its land by Belfast City Council to "reduce the incidents of fly-tipping".
And clarifying some confusion yesterday, NIHE said it put up its own separate barriers nearby to stop material "spilling on to the dual carriageway".
In recent weeks bonfire builders across the north have begun collecting materials for Eleventh Night pyres.
On Tuesday The Irish News revealed the Northern Ireland Environment Agency has investigated 93 complaints about bonfires since 2014, but issued just four fines.
