Both sides of the community could be living side by side in the city centre, if new government plans for a new North West Quarter project goes ahead.

A report on the key regeneration issues facing the North West Quarter of Belfast City Centre has been published for consultation today.

The document, which was produced by GVA Grimley consultants, focuses on the area bordered by Royal Avenue, Upper North Street, Millfield and Upper Donegall Street.

Social Development Minister David Hanson MP is asking the public for their opinion on whether the consultants have got it right.

Minister Hanson said: “The North West Quarter includes a mix of residential areas, such as Brown’s Square and Carrick Hill, as well as commercial buildings, colleges and Northern Ireland’s Central Library.

“While it is one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas of the city, having suffered greatly during the ‘Troubles’, its proximity to the retail core means that it has the opportunity to benefit from the city centre’s anticipated rising prosperity.”

The report also highlights the main regeneration issues of the area, which aim to reflect the views of stakeholders and local residents and points to how the key issues might be addressed in the final masterplan for the area.

The Minister continued: “The report which we are putting forward for public consultation today is a first step towards finalising the masterplan for this area of Belfast. I encourage all groups and stakeholders to feed their views back to the Department for Social Development (DSD), on whether the consultants have got the issues right and whether there are additional concerns which government and stakeholders need to consider in moving the process forward.”

The consultation period on the report will last until January 30 2007, with the final masterplan expected by June 2007.

The masterplan will set out a framework on which to guide the future development of the area and link with the masterplanning work for Crumlin Road jail and Girdwood, Lower Falls, Lower Shankill, Crumlin Road (including Lower Oldpark) as well as the retail core of the City Centre.

Mr Hanson said: “The consultants have identified housing, economy and enterprise, education, retail, tourism and cultural development, transport and urban design as key levers for taking forward the regeneration of the area. Potentially, the most difficult of these is the further development of social housing.

“At present social housing in the area is characterised by the segregation of Catholic and Protestant communities. This situation isn’t healthy for any city centre. DSD wants to examine whether it is possible to achieve a mixture of new social and new private housing in the area. The challenge for all of us is to see whether we can achieve this in a way which eases, rather than adds to, further polarisation of the community.”

The Minister concluded: “Our aspirations for this part of the North West Quarter are the same as those that we seek for all city and town centres across Northern Ireland. They should be safe and welcoming places for everyone; where people are free to meet, share, play, work and live. I believe that we now have the opportunity to transform the North West Quarter into an area that the city can be proud of.”

(EF)