No idea when sealed-off Belfast shopping route will reopen, say officials, three months after city centre street shut due to problems at Victoria Square apartments
Officials have no idea when a major shopping route in the heart of Belfast might reopen, three months after the city centre street was sealed off due to problems with apartments in the Victoria Square complex.
A pedestrianised part of Montgomery Street, which connects Victoria Square and Chichester Street, was “temporarily restricted” by Belfast City Council towards the end of July. Around 13 weeks later, the council doesn’t know when shoppers might be able to walk down it again – and they still aren’t offering a full explanation for why it was closed.
The street is sealed off in both directions by metal fences, with warning signs on them stating the area is an “exclusion zone”.
When it was shut down in July, council officials said the measure came after the apartments were inspected and advice received from a chartered engineer.
The closure was described as “a precautionary measure” while officials investigated, with the council stating it wouldn’t comment any further during that investigation.
Today (21st) a spokesman told the News Letter the investigation hasn’t finished, stating: “Montgomery Street remains closed for public safety. The council’s investigations are ongoing and there is currently no timeframe for the street to be reopened.”
The Victoria Square residential development on Chichester Street was completed in 2008, but all 91 people who lived there were evacuated in April 2019 following the discovery of structural damage. The flats have lain empty ever since.
Residents have been in a long-running and high-profile tussle for compensation, various owners lodging claims against construction firms and an architectural company for what they alleged were structural defects, negligence, and loss of value.
The companies involved in constructing and fitting out the apartments deny liability.
The initial multimillion-pound action from residents was dismissed in March last year, as Northern Ireland’s law at the time said claims had to be made within six years of a building’s completion and the evacuation took place 11 years after the development was finished. In England and Wales, the equivalent law gives residents 30 years.
However, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons proposed a new law bringing Northern Irish legislation in line with England and Wales, leading residents to appeal; the law came into effect in September 2024, and last December judges ruled the Victoria Square apartments case could be heard again.