A SPECIAL meeting of Belfast City Council has been called to decide whether to allow staff and contractors to remove materials from any bonfire site in the city.
The city hall meeting called by Sinn Féin will take place on Wednesday.
Councillors will discuss a motion on whether the local authority should remove bonfire materials from sites including those not owned by it.
Sinn Féin said the council has a "duty to act" – and claimed unionist parties have refused to give permission for removing materials from August bonfire sites.
But unionists have expressed concern over the scope of the motion, and the council potentially taking responsibility for clearing sites it does not own.
The motion states: "This council gives permission to our council officers to remove bonfire materials or employ contractors to facilitate the removal of bonfire materials from council sites and other sites, which belong to statutory agencies and those which are in private ownership."
Sinn Féin councillor Jim McVeigh said the move follows concerns about August bonfires, but the motion related to all pyres as "we're not going to restrict ourselves".
Anti-internment bonfires are lit in some nationalist areas to mark the anniversary of the introduction of internment on August 9 1971.
"There are a number of sites in relation to August bonfires that we want council officers or contractors to be able to go in to remove these materials," he told The Irish News.
"The unionists are withholding their consent, and the officers feel they can't move because they don't have the consent of the council to do so.
"If there's a vote in favour then the council can remove that stuff."
Mr McVeigh described bonfires as a "blight on communities", adding: "Laws are being broken and this council has a duty to act."
But UUP councillor Jim Rodgers warned against agreeing to clear sites the council does not own.
"Legally we can look after our own sites but to go into private land or other public agencies, it's a different matter entirely," he said.
"We would have to be very careful there, otherwise we can end up as a council in court, costing ratepayers more money."
DUP councillor Lee Reynolds, the party's council group leader, said: "Jim McVeigh is making up the law and making up people's positions to try and reinforce his own case.
"This is an exercise in ego. It doesn't impress us."
Earlier this month some loyalist bonfires led to homes being boarded up and firefighters dousing at-risk buildings to stop them catching fire.
Windows at an apartment block on Housing Executive land near Sandy Row were also left shattered and cracked due to a pyre.
The lead-up to the Eleventh Night was dominated by controversy after The Irish News revealed that the council had been storing thousands of pallets for bonfire builders at ratepayers' expense.
An investigation has been launched by the council into the decision.
