SF and DUP block council devolution powers to pedestrianise city centre

At the full meeting of the council at City Hall the two largest parties opposed a motion by the Green Party’s NI leader Mal O’Hara for Belfast City Council to come together to demand a devolution of local transport powers away from Stormont.

Outside of Northern Ireland, councils throughout the UK have local powers over transport and related infrastructure.

The Green Party NI leader in particular highlighted the regenerative powers of pedestrianisation, singling out Union Street in the city centre as a success story during the meeting at City Hall last week.

Councillor O’Hara said in an earlier statement: “It is ridiculous that local councils do not have these powers. Any other city our size across Europe would already hold them. During the pandemic, urban areas across the world transformed.

“They reprioritised road space away from private cars and created space for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. In Belfast almost 40 percent of households do not have access to a car or van, so walkability, cycling infrastructure and good public transport are vital.

“Those urban areas also enhanced public space to support retail and hospitality to bounce back in a safe manner. This was all done at pace and totally transformed urban areas and cities.

“Our Executive and successive ministers with the powers to do this completely missed the window of opportunity. 

Alliance, the SDLP, People Before Profit and the PUP supported the Green motion, while Sinn Féin, the DUP, the UUP voted against it. In the end the vote was 35 against the plan, and 21 votes in support of the plan.

DUP Alderman George Dorrian said: “We do want to see a lot more ambition, however we don’t buy this argument that transferring all the powers to us is going to deliver anything faster.

“What we need is for the departments, for those responsible, to step up.

“Response times for example are abysmal, we know that, in terms of consultations. But we need to look at why that is happening, address that, not simply transfer the powers from one to another. There is no guarantee that is going to change anything.

Sinn Féin Councillor Caoimhín McCann told the chamber: “The wording of the motion is very unclear and does not outline whatsoever to what extent powers would be devolved to this council. Further, it doesn’t really make any reference to how this would be funded.