Belfast: About 500 streets facing long wait for alley gates

About 500 streets in Belfast are on a waiting list for alley gates from the city council.

However, a council official has said that it could take years to meet all the requests for gates.

The Project Officer for Alleygating at Belfast City Council Gavin Bell made the comments in a Radio Ulster documentary.

Called 9ft in Common: Reclaiming Belfast's Alleyways, it also reports on a campaign to transform alleys.

The first alley gates in Belfast were erected by the council more than 15 years ago in 2006, in north Belfast.

Since then, hundreds have gone up, in an attempt to reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour, crime and fly tipping near people's homes.

But according to Mr Bell, it is not a quick process for a street to be provided with gates.

"It is a legislative process and that sometimes can take between six to nine months and it's usually a six to eight week process for the gates to be manufactured, and then they're installed," he said.

"So all in all it could be anything up to 12 to 18 months and that all depends on the quickness of the consultation."

The council relies on allocations of funding to pay for alley gates and that funding has to stretch far.

"Generally we get capital funding every two or three years, so if we get a general say £500,000 that's split on a north, south, east and west basis," Mr Bell said.

"Currently gates cost about £2,500."

Fly-tipping has been an ongoing problem in Belfast's alleyways

That is for one individual gate and alleys or streets usually need at least two or more gates.

I asked Mr Bell if that meant the council could afford about 200 gates a year, but it is not quite that simple.

"It's not every year," he replied.

"It's each capital phase, it's maybe every three to four years there's an allocated capital amount of money.

"It isn't a quick fix, it certainly isn't and I can see how frustrating it is for people.

"We currently have requests in for about 500 streets.

"With the price of gates and the price of steel going up we're not going to resolve those requests any time soon."

But there are those in Belfast who think we need to look at an alternative to gates to ensure that Belfast's alleys become spaces that can be used to the full by local communities.

'Safe, secluded, gorgeous spot'

Amberlea Neely's interest in alleyways began when she moved into her new home in east Belfast.

She is a creative consultant, exploring ways to improve the built environment and when she first ventured out into the entry beyond her back yard she found a new challenge.

"There had been a lot of historical fly-tipping right along the alley," she said.

Some residents have turned alleyways into community spaces, including Wildflower Alley in south Belfast

That meant that many in the street had never ventured into the alleyway, but Amberlea and a number of others embarked on a major clear up.

The alley is now well used by those in her street to meet and chat and for children to play.

"It's a little safe, secluded, gorgeous spot which people can enjoy," she said.

She and her friend, architect Aisling Rusk, have created a project called "9ft in Common".

It takes its name from the typical width of an alley in Belfast.

They have created a digital map of Belfast's alleys on their website and walked many of them, collecting stories and leading walking groups.

Alleys as community spaces

Both think there is potential for alleys to be used more widely and become places where communities can come together.

According to them, alley gates can sometimes create more problems than they solve.

"We've actually seen that gates can be counterproductive in some instances," Ms Neely said.

"For example, fly-tipping is generally done by someone in the vicinity so once you put gates on the tipping will still continue."

Ms Rusk acknowledged that alley gates could deter burglaries.

"But I think our point is that a lot is lost by putting those gates in," she said.

'Belfast doesn't need barriers'

Faced with huge demand, rising costs and such long delays 9ft in Common have asked the council to postpone the erection of any more gates until they carry out an evaluation of their effectiveness.

"The question we're asking is are there other things you can do inhabiting your alley and all the other concepts we're looking at to make them a useable space that might also deter anti-social behaviour and still leave the alleys open as part of Belfast's green infrastructure," Ms Rusk explained.

"We don't really feel that Belfast needs any more barriers.

"Once they are there it's very hard to see how they ever get taken away again."

9ft in Common: Reclaiming Belfast's Alleyways is broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster at 1303 BST on Monday 29 August.