Stormont department "dragging their feet" over road crossing despite risk to school children
A Stormont department is being accused of "dragging their feet" over a four year long campaign for a puffin crossing despite an ongoing risk of school children "getting knocked down".
The crossing, at Knockbreda Road in South Belfast, is linked to plans to re-open a gate into Cherryvale Park that sits off the Ravenhill Road and has itself been at the centre of some controversy. At a Belfast City Council committee meeting this week, officials confirmed that they were “ready to go” with another consultation, as stipulated by Stormont, while councillors aired their frustration at the amount of time it was taking for a simple piece of infrastructure to be approved.
The Stormont Department for Infrastructure was accused of putting residential car parking for a small amount of homes in the area over the safety of school children who use the crossing in large numbers every day on a busy and dangerous arterial road.
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The department is demanding another consultation on the matter, while council members argue there has already been sufficient consultation, and allege a handful of residents are holding up the process over car parking issues.
It has been four years since Belfast councillors started the ball rolling for the creation of a new Knockbreda Road puffin crossing, which was in part agreed upon as a means to facilitate the reopening of an old gate at Cherryvale Playing Fields.
The crossing request by the council was made in 2021, agreed by DfI in 2022, and still nothing has been done. A request by a councillor to reopen the gates at the park, which have been closed for over 20 years, was first made in 2017.
A letter from the office of the Minister for Infrastructure John O’Dowd MLA sent to the council this month states: “The siting of a crossing at this location, as requested by Belfast City Council to facilitate the opening of a rear access to the playing fields, has been problematic both in the location of the crossing and the significant effect it will have on residents adjacent to the site.
“The original location for the proposed crossing, outside number 30, was subject to a safety audit. The safety audit found that moving the crossing east would provide increased road safety benefits by improving visibility from the west, whilst still providing a crossing on the desired line from Knock Eden Park (which is utilised as a rear entrance to Aquinas School).
“A detailed design and a further safety audit of this alternative proposed crossing location, situated close to the Knock Eden Park junction, has now been completed. This assessment has confirmed that the alternative crossing at Knock Eden Park is considered appropriate and achievable for the provision of a controlled crossing.
“However, you may be aware this alternative location also has a significant effect on a number of residents in that they will no longer be able to park outside their houses due to the crossing itself and the associated zig zags road markings.
"A request was made by Eastern Division officials for the council to carry out further consultation with affected residents and this was initially refused by the council. This response is disappointing given the aspiration of the council that a crossing would be provided and facility opening of a council facility.
“I now believe that the council has agreed to carry out a further consultation and officials are happy to contribute and input to this process.”
At the January meeting of the council’s People and Communities Committee, SDLP Councillor Gary McKeown said: “I want to place on record our frustration at how long this process is taking, and the intransigence frankly by DfI on the issue. Anybody that is familiar with this location will know it is used particularly by children coming to and from school.
“It is a very dangerous and a highly used location for pedestrians to get across various roads, meeting at one point. Notwithstanding the intention of the council to open the back gate, I think it is incumbent on DfI to actually put a crossing here anyway, because it is the right thing to do.
“I don’t think it is right DfI is asking the council to go out and re-consult again, but I would agree we do it fundamentally and properly, and include everyone who was previously consulted, to represent the entire area.
“It is really important that this moves forward at pace, because every day that goes past without these provisions being put in place is a day where children are at risk of getting knocked down at this location.”
SDLP Councillor for Lisnasharragh Séamas de Faoite said there was no statutory requirement for the council to carry out a consultation.
He said: “My understanding is a survey is ready to go. We told DfI we didn’t want to do a survey because there was no statutory obligation - they now insist a survey has to take place, otherwise they won’t proceed. Although other DfI officials have told us different things to that.”
He added: “The position is very clear that it is the department that is dragging its feet on this once again. This is an issue in which all the local councillors for the area are in agreement, where local residents are in agreement.
“That is apart from those who will be losing their car parking spaces, and that is at most three or four houses, compared to hundreds of people who responded to our initial survey.”
He said: “My fear is that there are certain people within the department who are dragging their feet 'til we reach the end of the financial year and this crossing doesn’t progress, despite the fact there is total political agreement on making it happen. I am hopeful the department in its media monitoring will pick up on this conversation.”
A council officer said City Hall was waiting for a response from DfI on the new consultation, which was ready for implementation.
The Knockbreda crossing/Cherryvale gate saga has involved controversy over the reopening of the gate into the playing fields, with a tussle between the council and residents over antisocial behaviour. The gate was originally closed over problems with antisocial behaviour.
In 2022 elected members in a council committee approved that the local authority would spend £17,800 on the erection of fencing around the substation and rear of houses at Rosetta Park, resurfacing of the triangle of land outside the current gate, and additional bins.
In that year a public consultation by the council was held which saw nearly 90 percent of respondents agree to the measure. However, another consultation among those living closest to the gate found that 60 percent were against reopening the gate while 40 percent were in favour, with the main concern being an increase in antisocial behaviour.
A council committee agreed to open the gate while continuing conversations with nearby residents as to how to implement mitigation against potential antisocial behaviour.
The project was delayed in 2021 after a Sinn Féin motion insisted the gate could only be opened if a new pedestrian crossing was created across the road beside the gate. The Department for Infrastructure at Stormont agreed to create the pedestrian crossing before the gate was opened, but stated in a letter in 2022 that “residents living adjacent to the site of the proposed crossing have expressed considerable opposition to the proposal”.
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