13/08/2010
'Consult Community' Call Follows Club Fire
There has been a call for local consultation should a west Belfast social club at the centre of an arson probe be rebuilt after being extensively damaged.
A fire may have been deliberately set at the premises in Summerhill Road, Twinbrook with five fire appliances attending after the alert was raised at 3.45am on Friday. Although it is at a very early stage in the PSNI probe, it is already thought that the Twinbrook Social Club may have been set alight after a failed robbery.
Already there seems to be mixed feelings about the demise of the club as the Sinn Féin MLA for West Belfast Jennifer McCann has now said that the rebuilding of the fire damaged club must only be done in consultation with the local community
Speaking after the club was razed to the ground in an overnight fire Ms McCann said: "The fire at this stage seems to be an arson attack following a failed robbery.
"This has led to several people having no employment as a result which, in this economic climate, is extremely unfortunate.
"However the club itself has been at times a centre for anti-social activity within the greater Twinbrook area and many residents I'm sure will not miss the club being there," she commented.
"If rebuilt at this site it is essential that this only occurs following an in-depth consultation process with the local community who bore the brunt of this anti-social activity.
"Without this, and strong safeguards coming from the owners to ensure that a new bar works with the community, the opinion locally is that we would prefer to have nothing on the site than a return to what was there before."
(BMcC/GK)
A fire may have been deliberately set at the premises in Summerhill Road, Twinbrook with five fire appliances attending after the alert was raised at 3.45am on Friday. Although it is at a very early stage in the PSNI probe, it is already thought that the Twinbrook Social Club may have been set alight after a failed robbery.
Already there seems to be mixed feelings about the demise of the club as the Sinn Féin MLA for West Belfast Jennifer McCann has now said that the rebuilding of the fire damaged club must only be done in consultation with the local community
Speaking after the club was razed to the ground in an overnight fire Ms McCann said: "The fire at this stage seems to be an arson attack following a failed robbery.
"This has led to several people having no employment as a result which, in this economic climate, is extremely unfortunate.
"However the club itself has been at times a centre for anti-social activity within the greater Twinbrook area and many residents I'm sure will not miss the club being there," she commented.
"If rebuilt at this site it is essential that this only occurs following an in-depth consultation process with the local community who bore the brunt of this anti-social activity.
"Without this, and strong safeguards coming from the owners to ensure that a new bar works with the community, the opinion locally is that we would prefer to have nothing on the site than a return to what was there before."
(BMcC/GK)
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