Belfast City Council is urging Stormont to pilot a scheme for 'Car Free Sundays' in the city centre.
A letter from SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite has become available, in which he writes on behalf of the council to the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Infrastructure, asking for a resumption of conversations between the council and Stormont from three years ago.
The letter states: “Prior to the pandemic Belfast City Council had asked your department to consider a pilot scheme of Car Free Sundays in Belfast city centre. As Chair at the time of the council’s All Party Working Group on the Climate Crisis I was keen to see this pilot take place to promote and support the use of active travel in our city and open Belfast up to people rather than congestion and car fumes.
Read more: Belfast alley gates funding request turned down by Stormont
“We had expressed at the time our desire to see this pilot take measures to include residents with accessibility challenges, to ensure that no barriers were placed on their access to the city centre. Following the success of the Open Botanic initiative organised by the Forward South Partnership and supported by Councillor Gary McKeown’s successful motion on street closures to the council in summer 2020, we are writing to you to ask for an update on this proposed pilot.
“We believe that this pilot could bring many benefits to residents across the city and to many small businesses in the city centre. Open Botanic has drawn people from all over the city to the area today and local businesses have benefited from increased footfall.”
Community groups held the Open Botanic Festival from noon to 3pm on November 20 with a view to highlighting the potential for pedestrianising Botanic Avenue. The road was closed to cars for the duration of the event, which included health and community stalls, music, workshops and food.
Four groups from Donegall Pass, Sandy Row, Donegall Road and the Holyland area are also working on a consultation with a view to making the busy South Belfast avenue a more family-friendly space.
Botanic SDLP Councillor Gary McKeown, who attended the Botanic event, said: “Even before the pandemic there was a real shift in how people wanted to reimagine this city as a place that was more welcoming for people and less reliant on cars. The increase in the use of open space in the past couple of years has really accelerated that conversation, so we need to avoid slipping back to doing things the same old way at all costs.
“There's a fantastic opportunity to make our civic space work for people, businesses and the environment by opening them up for public use such as family-friendly activities, hospitality and entertainment. The recent Open Botanic event showed how communities can drive that change, and Belfast city councillors have indicated their support for it through a motion I brought on the issue.
“We need to reject the “this is Belfast, not Barcelona” view from some quarters as it does a disservice to this city and its potential. Let's be creative and dynamic and make Belfast as welcoming as we can.”
The Department for Infrastructure was contacted and stated: “the letter to the Permanent Secretary was just received last week so a response will not yet have been issued.”
READ NEXT:
Belfast's Fountain Street pavement cafes at centre of City Hall and Stormont clash
Belfast Council says no Christmas tree switch-on or countdown for "health and safety" reasons
Belfast Council to employ more staff to cope with dual language street sign demand
Belfast Council agrees fuel poverty fund for 5,000 families in city
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
