Green light for Lagan Greenway's second section in south Belfast, joining Annadale Embankment to Belvoir Park Forest

The £5m first phase, which constructed a new boat lock plus a large foot and cycle bridge over the Lagan linking Stranmillis and Annadale Embankment in the south of the city, opened in September 2021.

Now the next section of the project, building a greenway along the Lagan towpath from the bridge to Belvoir Park Forest, has been rubber-stamped by the city council’s Planning Committee.

It will involve constructing new gravel paths plus an elevated timber boardwalk, which will run 85 metres long and approximately four to five metres high over, allowing bicycles, wheelchairs and prams to travel over hollows in the landscape. There will also be landscaping works, as well as new cycle stands, bollards, seats and bins in a bid to make the area more friendly to cyclists and pedestrians.

In official reports, planners stated the scheme is “considered to enhance the area” by improving pedestrian and cycle links to the existing part of the overall project, and extending the greenway network in the area by roughly two-thirds of a mile.

Said planners: “The proposal is sympathetic to the rural character of the surrounding area and the proposed greenway will improve connectivity in the area and will contribute to enhancing the character of the area.”

They add that the plans are “not considered to have significant impacts” on Lagan Valley Regional Park, which connects to Belvoir Park Forest, or Lagan Valley area of natural beauty.

The scheme hasn’t proved universally popular, however. Part of the new greenway is to run alongside Belvoir Golf Club’s grounds, and a chartered surveyor acting on behalf of the club submitted an official objection to the project.

The surveyor suggested there’s no way to stop people using the greenway from wandering off the path onto the golf club’s land, which puts it at increased risk of liability if anyone falls and injures themselves; in addition, he said, building a formal greenway “legitimises the use of these lands, creates significantly increased usage, and thereby equally increased levels of anti-social behaviour”.

The golf club was also concerned that large numbers of people eager to use the greenway will park along a nearby residential street, Galwally Avenue, aggravating residents and obstructing large vehicles that travel down it to reach a water works.

The golf club did not object in principle to a greenway, added the surveyor, but had “concerns regarding ownership, liability, design and road safety”.

Planners dismissed those worries, however, stating that anti-social behaviour is a matter for the PSNI, not the planning system, though they add the greenway is designed to “provide a safe and accessible environment that is not considered to encourage anti-social behaviour in the area”.

They also state greenway users are more likely to arrive on foot or bicycle rather than drive to Galwally Avenue, while land ownership and liability issues don’t factor into planning decisions, and roads authorities have cleared the project on safety grounds.

Commented the planning committee’s chair, councillor Ryan Murphy: “It’s great to see phase two of the Lagan Gateway Project being given the green light, which will see its expansion and extension from Annadale Embankment to Belvoir Forest Park.”