Locals are asking for consultation, amidst accusations of decisions being made in secret
The community garden at the Lower Botanic Field
Opposition is building to a plan for the Botanic area which would get rid of community gardens, a wildflower meadow, and Queens University environmental research plots for a GAA pitch.
Locals who use the Lower Botanic field in Stranmillis were perplexed and outraged last Friday (February 6) after Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey posted on Instagram what she described as “confirmation (of) the delivery of new GAA pitch” in reference to a decision made at a Belfast City Council committee meeting.
Residents from the area are complaining the announcement came out of the blue, with no trailing or local consultation, and many are saying the whole question of the Botanic Fields use appears shrouded in secrecy in council meetings and minutes of committees.
READ MORE: £22million announced for controversial North Belfast community hub
Friday’s announcement by Sinn Féin ultimately proved to be premature, after the full council on Monday (February 9) agreed to shelve the plans for further discussion, but locals who use the field have expressed alarm and uncertainty about the future of the space.
The Lower Botanic Field, surrounded by Stranmillis, the Stranmillis Embankment, and Rugby Road, has in recent years been used partly as community gardens and a Queen’s environmental research site, funded by the European Upsurge Project. The remainder of the site has been seeded as a wildflower meadow by the council, and has been labelled a significant area of rich biodiversity.
For decades the field has been used as a popular grassy public space, surrounded by a diverse tree base. In the past 80 years the space has been variously used for allotments, a prefab housing development, an events space, and open playing fields.
Last Friday the majority of elected representatives at the City Hall Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, behind closed doors in a discussion away from the public and press, decided to return the Boucher Road Playing Fields to their “original purpose” as a dedicated sports facility, meaning large-scale music concerts and festivals at the site would end in a few years time.
It emerged the decision also involved the transformation of the Botanic site into a GAA pitch, although this was not made clear in any documents made available to the public.
Then, at the February meeting of the full Belfast Council on Monday (February 9), on a tight vote, the chamber passed firstly a joint DUP and Alliance proposal, and then a Green Party proposal, both proposing to defer decisions on both Botanic and Boucher Road Playing Fields, pending further discussions.
The balance of power changed on Monday after the DUP changed their position on the proposal, and a joint Alliance/DUP proposal got through, backed by 30 votes in favour to 28 votes against. A Green Party proposal to defer all decisions back to committee passed on a similar score, and technically is the chosen amendment.
The proposed Botanic pitch is located on the site of “Upsurge,” an EU Horizon-funded , five-city research initiative examining how nature-based solutions can help cities adapt to rapid climate change. The project was valued at €660,375 going to Belfast City Council.
The site also received an investment of £240,367 for installation of a new path and community garden via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, again, via Belfast Council.
Colin Shaw, who lives beside the Botanic field, and has been involved with the Upsurge project from its beginning, has written to the five councillors representing the Botanic District Electoral Area to get answers on the process surrounding the Botanic proposal.
He stated in a letter to the elected reps: “Over the past four years, these investments have transformed this formerly underused land into a valued and freely-accessible community, research, and biodiversity resource. The project’s initial phase (2021–2026), followed by monitoring to 2030, was intended to generate knowledge and demonstrate good practice critical to sustainable urban planning in Belfast and beyond.”
He added: “This proposed development will cause reputational damage to Belfast by undermining its role in Upsurge and UKSPF, and risks breaching project commitments, triggering financial penalties during the monitoring phase, and eroding international and national confidence in Belfast city as a reliable partner for internationally-funded and globally-significant research.
“It increases the risk of flooding in Belfast city centre. Currently, the site acts as a sponge for large quantities of water, something the Upsurge intervention is studying. A hardstanding pitch and spectator area will increase run-off, increasing the volume of water entering the Lagan, especially during flood events.”
He said: “It will have an impact on protected species. The site contains active badger setts and serves as a foraging corridor. Given badgers’ strong site fidelity, the development would disrupt safe movement between setts and feeding areas. Associated floodlighting would also impair bat foraging and threaten wider nocturnal wildlife by breaking ecological connectivity.
“There will be a loss of priority habitat. An 3G artificial pitch with rubber crumb infill will destroy the restored species-rich grassland and undo extensive work on passive flood alleviation (ponds and swales) along the River Lagan.”
He said: “Citizens of Belfast, like those in cities worldwide, are looking to their leaders for action on sustainability and biodiversity loss. Through Upsurge and UKSPF, Belfast has acted as a flagship—exactly the “lighthouse” the EU Horizon programme intended. This council decision places that leadership, and its long-term benefits, at serious risk.
“How does the committee believe this proposal aligns with the investments and projects with international and national bodies already committed on this site? What process is being followed for the selection of new sites for pitches? And why has this proposal not been subject to a public consultation prior to its approval?”
Green Party Councillor Áine Groogan said at the full council meeting on Monday: “We have really put the cart before the horse here. The Pitches Strategy has not been agreed, it is due to come back next month, and I don’t understand why we are agreeing outcomes of a strategy that is not itself agreed.
“Decisions in terms of priorities for funding and phasing should all flow from the strategy.”
She added: “I have raised concerns in relation to Botanic, particularly in terms of the Upsurge project there, which has been going several years, and the community garden. A significant amount of investment has gone into that, and I believe we are tied into that project for a number of years. I don’t know why that has been prioritised with all the potential legal and financial ramifications for this council.”
Alliance Councillor Tara Brooks said at the meeting: “I couldn’t believe it when I heard there was a pitch proposed for the Upsurge site. My concerns would be the same whether it was a GAA pitch, a football pitch – it makes no difference to me.
“This Upsurge site is an EU funded project the council has been supporting to investigate the impact of climate change. It is a community project, thousands of hours of community work have gone into that site, and there has been very little consultation with the local community.
“For me this is an example of where one part of the council isn’t talking to another.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Conor McKay said: “We were told multiple times the Upsurge project would not interfere with a Gaelic pitch there. Previously there was a Gaelic pitch when Cherryvale was getting done up and it passed consultation with residents who were more than happy to have it. This was an oven-ready pitch, ready to go.”
He added: “Do you want to come to the Gaelic club at St Malachy’s in the Market and go see them playing in wooden halls, that isn’t suited for them.” He said the site was “being quibbled on.”
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter
