An update statement from Roy Adams - 30 October 2006

For many people in Northern Ireland and further afield the “Crumlin Road Gaol” and “Girdwood Barracks” in North Belfast have been synonymous with conflict.

However, times are changing as we move to a new era of peace and prosperity. The Gaol and Girdwood Barracks are now closed and the site is a Government priority for development.

The combined Gaol and Girdwood site covers 27 acres. It is strategically located on the main Crumlin and Antrim Roads and is close to the City Centre. The Gaol is a precious heritage asset; the underground link to the Courthouse makes it unique at an international level. Together with Girdwood these buildings can help create a sense of place and identity and generate economic, social and environmental development.

The Minister for Social Development, David Hanson, MP, is of the view that the site can be best developed through a masterplanning approach. He felt that it was important to involve local interests and set up an Advisory Panel to lead this process involving elected and community representatives and key agencies including Belfast City Council, Laganside, Strategic Investment Board and the Community Relations Council.

The Advisory Panel has made good progress in taking forward a number of key subject areas. Its vision is “to create a regeneration project of international significance which brings maximum economic, social and environmental benefits to the local and wider community and in so doing creates a vibrant, inclusive and diverse environment which attracts present and future generations of people to live, work and visit”.

The Panel has undertaken an initial programme of community consultation which was important in providing local people with an opportunity to express their views about what should happen on the site. Frustrations and concerns have come to the surface but so too have ideas and creative suggestions as to how the enormous potential of the sites, as well as adjacent lands, might be used for community benefit.

The Panel has also made good progress in taking forward an international masterplanning competition. This attracted the interest of leading urban regeneration companies. Five design teams have now been selected to prepare concept plans outlining their ideas for the site. This is an important first stage in identifying how the full regeneration potential of the site can be realised.

The Design Teams are being encouraged to use their imagination and experience to suggest exciting and ambitious ideas consistent with a transformational mixed use scheme with the focus on employment creation. Towards the end of the year the consultants will submit costed bids to undertake the masterplan along with their concept plans. The winning consultant will be commissioned to prepare the masterplan.

The Advisory Panel will initiate and lead a consultation process as part of the masterplanning process to determine the views of community and other interests. The concept plans will form part of a public exhibition to keep local communities informed and to receive their views. It is anticipated that the draft master plan will be completed by April 2007.

The Gaol and Girdwood site presents one of the most exciting development opportunities in Belfast. The economic conditions are right. Belfast is being transformed and it is now a vibrant city with record levels of investment and growth. The success of Laganside, the development of Victoria Square, Cathedral Quarter and Royal Exchange show what can be achieved when the public, private and community sectors work together to a common agenda. This collaborative approach is essential to success in regeneration.

I am confident that the Gaol and Girdwood can attract new investment to North Belfast enabling the area to share in the regeneration and growth taking place in the rest of the City. The increasing level of investor confidence in the site and the proposals by adjacent landowners, including the Mater Trust and the Courthouse, can make a significant contribution to the area’s development.

The Minister has stated that the future development of the site must adhere to the Government’s “Shared Future” agenda. Clearly much effort is needed to achieve this and the Advisory Panel is currently considering the issue and what this means for the future development of the site.

The creation of an inclusive and accessible development scheme for all is clearly very important. I am confident that by working together on a shared future agenda we can help transform the area into a vibrant new development quarter, instil in local people a sense of pride and confidence and contribute to the development of Belfast as a premier European Capital.