Pedestrian plans for Belfast city centre: Don't get carried away on the high of the fleadh says business chief
A business leader has called for the authorities not to “get carried away” with the success of the fleadh as plans to pedestrianise more of Belfast city centre are floated.
Colin Neill, CEO of Hospitality Ulster, said that the whatever is planned must also take account of the “cold winter nights” when there are few pedestrians transiting the area.
Mr Neill is the de facto spokesman for roughly 1,100 pubs in the Province, as well as 600 restaurants and 150 hotels.
During the fleadh large parts of the city centre were closed to traffic and were thronged with pedestrians, such as Donegall Street, High Street, and Royal Avenue.
“Absolutely pedestrian areas have their place, but the location and timing needs to be worked out,” Mr Neill told the News Letter.
"You don’t always have the huge crowds from the fleadh, and and we have to make sure we still maintain a vibrant city centre.
"You can’t just be going ‘look it worked for the fleadh’ – we had 1.5m people there.
"It has to work also on the cold winter nights when maybe there’s not so many people about.”
At such times, the presence of passing buses and cars “creates a feeling that you’re not alone” and makes people feel safer, he said.
"There’s a huge amount obviously of bus traffic through Royal Avenue and Donegall Place, and there’s implications if you move that out of there – to what streets?
"The concept is obviously good. But with all these things, the devil is in the detail.”
He added: “It’s easy to get carried away on the high, and you forget there’s times there’s not a lot of people in the city centre.”
Sinn Fein infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins has said that the week-long festival “clearly demonstrated the benefits of pedestrianisation and has led to calls for a more permanent solution”.
Footfall cameras across the city centre put attendance at 1,653,999 from August 2 to August 9.
Ms Kimmins said now is the “perfect opportunity” for the public to weigh in on increased pedestrianisation.
“This has shown how we can make Belfast a nicer place for people and their families to live, to work and to visit,” she said.
“In the next few weeks, I will bring forward a consultation which includes proposals for the expansion of pedestrianisation in Belfast city centre.
“It is my ambition to reshape our town and city centres to put people first, creating more attractive, accessible, and vibrant places while reducing car dependency and encouraging sustainable travel choices.
“I want to hear everyone’s views on these proposals to ensure that everything we do is accessible for all.”
Belfast City Council told the News Letter: “Any decision on pedestrianising Belfast city centre in the long term would ultimately be for the Department for Infrastructure to make, rather than council, and would require consultation with residents, businesses and those with accessibility needs, as well as Translink and other statutory partners.”
Translink said "we welcome discussion” about the future of the city centre, and said that it will play “a constructive role in that conversation”.