A statue of the black American anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass planned for Belfast City Centre has finally received planning approval at City Hall, despite facing a last minute anonymous objection.
At the April meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, elected representatives unanimously agreed to the erection of life-size bronze sculpture of Frederick Douglass, three years after the council agreed a motion on the installation. It will be placed on an existing planter at Lombard Street. The original proposal for the statue came from Sinn Féin.
The proposed sculpture will measure 2.43 metres in height including the plinth, will be cast in bronze and will be a dark brown colour. Council officers recommended it for approval.
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Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in America. He first visited Belfast in 1845 at the invitation of the Belfast Anti-Slavery Society and returned for a second visit in 1846. He delivered at least 11 lectures during his four weeks in Belfast in 1845, including in the Rosemary Street Presbyterian Church, close to where it is intended that the sculpture will be installed.
The council planning report states: “The Conservation Officer has been consulted regarding the proposal; subject to their comments, it is not thought that the proposal would have a significant adverse impact on the character of the wider conservation area.
“In terms of the impact on public safety, the proposal is located on Lombard Street. Given the planter base already exists and will be retained, with the statue erected on it, it is not thought that the proposal would have a significant adverse impact on public safety.”
There were no objections to the plan from any of the statutory consultees, but one late anonymous objection was submitted to the council. The officer told the recent meeting of the Planning Committee: “We have received a late item in the form of an anonymous representation raising the following issues, (namely) that there was a date error with the committee date meeting in the report, which has been noted and corrected, and that the main advertisement period has not yet expired.
“We have addressed this in the report and sought delegated authority for officers to address any further material matters raised through neighbour notification processes.”
She added: “Concerns were raised that we were determining the application without responses from the Conservation Officer or from the Historic Environment Division. The Conservation Officer has now responded with no objections. HED is still outstanding but delegated authority is being sought to apply any conditions to the application.
“A further representation was made regarding the Department for Infrastructure Roads Division not being consulted. We considered that because it is not an adopted surface, that it is within eight metres of the Rosemary and Lombard Street junction, and that because notice was served to DfI as the landowner through the application process, that no further consultation was deemed necessary.
“And because the proposal of the statue is considered to enhance the public realm at this location, and not cause a detrimental impact, the consultation was also not deemed necessary by the landscape team and the tree officer.”
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