Councillors seek meeting with Belfast as projects stall

They made the decision after hearing from representatives of the Areema Residents' Association in Dunmurryabout their proposal to install a Multiuse Games Area (MUGA) in the Areema Estate.

However, councillors had to tell residents that whilst they understood the need for a playground and facilities for local children, since the area falls within the proposed boundary changes, Lisburn council cannot give the go-ahead for something Belfast City Council may have to pay for.

Kathleen McCabe, the Chairperson of the Areema Residents' Association, had told the committee: "Not having a building in our area has held us back. The children are being restricted in what games they can play and what they can do. Areema has nothing at all, if we want to have an event for the children we have to leave the estate and organise transport, and some parents don't like their children leaving the area."

The Association is currently participating in the Northern Ireland Housing Executive 'Shared Neighbourhood' and Groundwork NI 'Reconciling Communities through Regeneration' Programmes.

Speaking about the community's need for facilities, the NIHE's Community Cohesion Advisor, Alex De La Torre stated: "We are a year and a half into a three year pilot programme. The purpose is to support a mixed community and to promote diversity. When we carried out a consultation one of the main things the residents mentioned was the need for a playground. This is an opportunity not only for the Areema residents but for all of the residents of Dunmurry to share this space."

Despite the council agreeing that such facilities are needed, Committee members were unable to offer support becasue of the impending changes.

Councillor Jonathan Craig, who is also Chairman of the Lisburn/Castlereagh Transition Committee, said: "It is an area I would have a lot of sympathy for. It is one of those little pockets of deprivation that has fallen behind. I propose the Chairman, the Director and myself as Chair of the Transition Committee arrange a meeting with our counterparts in Belfast to establish how we move forward issues like this. We have got a number of projects which fall into this category."

Alderman Paul Porter added: "I think the officers need to prepare a full scale report of all the works that fall within the new boundaries and we say (to Belfast Council), 'now you pay for it'."

Councillor Paul Butler stated: "This is one of the mixed estates in the area and there should be some effort to get projects like this off the ground. Belfast has a responsibility; local Government should be supporting projects in areas like this."

The Committee agreed to seek a meeting with their Belfast counterparts at the earliest opportunity.