Belfast road crying out for investment to give locals pride in their area
A portion of a popular Belfast road is crying out for investment and imagination in order to give locals a sense of pride in their area while attracting visitors.
The Antrim Road in the area around Alexandra Park Avenue down to Newington is plagued with derelict buildings and closed businesses. After the popular restaurant Sozo closed its doors on the road a number of weeks ago, it brought locals together to call for more businesses to open along the main road.
Despite some success stories in the area, local representatives have called for joined-up thinking to give people a sense of pride in where they’re from.
Paul Carlin is the chair of the Antrim Road Business Association[3] and owns a hairdressers on the Cavehill Road. He said in order for the area to be embraced by small businesses opening their doors, more support needs to be given to such businesses.
He told Belfast Live[4]: “In order to have a promenading culture in getting people out to enjoy the facilities, there needs to be businesses everywhere. At the minute, if you walk down the road, you have derelict buildings, so it’s not as attractive to people which is an issue.
“From the small business community, it’s so tough to trade nowadays. I think people have this idea that once you open a small business it’s automatically going to make you money, but it’s never been harder.
“We all know about the cost of living crisis and running costs – every time you look, everything is going up. I, unfortunately, opened my rates bill the other month, and our rates on Cavehill Road[5] have gone up 50%.
“One of the big issues small businesses are hit with is VAT, it’s really expensive. There has been work done at getting a better VAT rate for the North, but if we had a local government representing us properly we could make decisions on all of that. It’s frightening and very sad to see the small business community going the way it is at the moment.
“We need to raise revenue to keep our city and country going, there’s no question of that, but there needs to be more joined-up thinking on how the small business community is able to exist. It’s not just this part of the Antrim Road that’s suffering, if you go to any part of the city or in many small towns, the high street is gone.
“If you walk outside your door and see dereliction, you’re not going to be happy and see value, so it’s very important the small business community is nurtured.”
The derelict Willowbank House on the Antrim Road (Image: Belfast Live)
Derelict buildings along this stretch of the road include the former policing board building at Willowbank House and the red brick building on the corner of Limestone Road and Antrim Road which collapsed last year.[6][7]
Although the popular Sozo restaurant has closed its doors on Antrim Road, further up the road, a local success story can be found in The Chester bar which has been flourishing since it reopened under new ownership recently. Local councillor, Conor Maskey, said local businesses need to come together to work together to achieve and celebrate wins.
As well as this, he added that proposed funding for local parks the Waterworks and Alexandra Park can be a real “game changer” in bringing more investment into the area.
He said: “The more we can get businesses together to talk about issues the better. There are changes needed at the highest level, and the sooner that’s done the better, but if people like Paul, myself, and others can work with small businesses, we can get some local wins.
“The fact of the matter is, that costs are going up, and in that crisis moment you need people around the table working together at a political level to sort that out, and the sooner that happens the better.
“Politically, we haven’t been better in this area on a council level, with parties working together to get projects across the line. The Council has put in an application to SEUPB for funding[8] for the Waterworks and Alexandra Park which could be a real game changer.
“If you get that proper investment in those two parks, it can transform the area. Covid[9] showed how the Waterworks is loved and with funding it could be not just a locally loved entity, but loved across the board and get tourists flocking to it – if we do the right things in that space.”
The pair agreed that pride in your area is essential to people in terms of mental health and wanting to spend more time socialising and shopping locally. Paul explained that on the nearby Cavehill Road, there is now a flourishing small business community[10], thanks to previous funding from the European Union.
“A good example of how it can work is looking at how European Union money helped the Cavehill Road, that’s been a great thing,” he added.
“Since then, because my business moved there right when that happened, we’ve seen a flourishing small business community on the Cavehill Road. But we need that support. The money to do large public realm schemes probably isn’t there which is sad.
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“But it is frightening to see we could be losing the high street. It’s more than just shops, it’s about people being able to be about and feel safer, and feel valued. If you have nice businesses sitting, that’s going to make you feel happier in your area.
“Pride in your area is fundamental. We’re seeing it with the dereliction around some parts of the city centre, where we have anti-social issues now coming in. They’re filling a void.
“On the Antrim Road, the former Probation Board building has been closed for ages now, and we’re seeing graffiti over the front of that beautiful building. But I don’t know what we expect if we’re going to leave buildings sitting like that.
“At the end of the day, we have to keep moving and have to give people a reason to invest. The flip side is there are great businesses on the Antrim Road.
“We need to see everyone working together, unfortunately, we don’t have local government, but within economic development at Belfast City Council[13] there are a fair amount of proactive people and councillors on the ground looking at issues.
“The relationships are there, the passion for North Belfast[14] has always been there. It’s a brilliant area, a brilliant community, with brilliant people – but it just needs brilliant investment.”
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References
- ^ North Belfast is ‘unloved and left behind’ by Council, locals claim (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ NI music school students taught in ‘unsuitable’ conditions after hub closed (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ Antrim Road Business Association (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ Belfast Live (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ Cavehill Road (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ former policing board building (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ collapsed last year. (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ an application to SEUPB for funding (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ Covid (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ flourishing small business community (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ Click this link (chat.whatsapp.com)
- ^ Privacy Notice (www.reachplc.com)
- ^ Belfast City Council (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ North Belfast (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.belfastlive.co.uk)
- ^ sign up to our daily newsletter (www.belfastlive.co.uk)