Acting Director Growth and Planning, Mat Teale, said the council staff were trying to work with a new business to remove articles from the laneway so plans to tidy the area up could progress.

"Meagher Lane is a challenge," he acknowledged.

Council resolved back in 2019 to trial bin bays in the CBD laneway, and although the matter has come back before councillors a few times consultation has been delayed by COVID-19.

At the March meeting, Cr Maria Willis said a letter had been written to council about the matter.

Mr Teale said one business has some access and storage issues that have resulted in pallets and 'metal articles' being kept in the lane.

"Because we can't get the street sweeper in, there's a lot of cigarette butts, a lot of paper and debris," Mr Teale said.

"Certainly it's very high on our agenda to try and resolve."

Mr Teale said the council was "trying to negotiate" with the business's state properties manager on the matter.

"Once we've got those (items) removed, we'll continue to put in bin bays," he said.

"We've got one in there at the moment, we'll get the other five bin bays in and remove the other bins and skip bins."

Councillors agreed to put the matter on the agenda to workshop at a briefing session.