West Belfast: Councillors approve greenway development

Belfast City councillors have voted for the development of a greenway through the old Mackies site in west Belfast.

The vote was passed at a planning committee meeting despite objections that the 25-acre site should be used for both a greenway and housing.

According to campaigners, some 7,500 families are homeless in Belfast, including more than 4,000 children.

The project would include new foot and cycleways connecting parts of west and north Belfast.

The proposal will go before a meeting of the full council to get final approval.

A solicitor on behalf of the campaign group Participation and Practice of Rights (PPR) told the committee that the former industrial site off the Springfield Road represented "a fantastic opportunity to create a mixed-use neighbourhood with a greenway as a centrepiece".

Funding risk

The development is to form part of a wider £5.1m greenway project which would see the creation of a 12km (7.5m) route from Clarendon Playing Fields to the new Transport Hub in Belfast's city centre.

It is to be paid through a European Union peace and reconciliation fund.

Councillors were advised during the meeting that if they did not vote in favour of the application, they risked losing the funding.

A total of seven councillors voted to approve the application, one voted against and two abstained.

Campaigners have described a vote in favour as a vote to block housing on the site, which is owned by the Department of Communities.

The same department recently committed to delivering 100,000 homes across Northern Ireland over the next 15 years.

In a statement to the BBC last week, a spokesperson said: "Due to no functioning executive or agreed budget, options relating to the Housing Supply Strategy are currently being considered."