Palmerston Play

Living Streets is hosting a one day workshop to enable transport planners, designers and engineers to develop successful Local Transport Plan 3 policies and projects which create walkable communities. These will be taking place in Sheffield on 6 Nov and in London on 20 Nov. Find out more information on Living Streets' website.

Free Autumn-themed posters

The latest in our series of seasonal A3 posters is now available to help you promote walking this autumn. You can also order packs of A7 pledge cards which help your employees get in the walking habit. To see the new materials, or to place an order, visit our resource page.

ACT TravelWise conference, 23/24 Nov

The 2009 ACT TravelWise Autumn Conference provides an opportunity to find out just what shape travel planning is in. Delegates will be encouraged to discuss how much strength and vigour Travel Planning has; and examine what it can do for your health, the health of children, customers and employees ... and the health of your wallet. Download the conference programme for more information or visit their website.

Walk to Work Week dates announced!

Mark your diaries, the next Walk to Work Week will be held from 26-30 April 2010. We will be providing you with all the necessary information in the coming months through this e-bulletin and on our website. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, you can read about last year's events on our website.

Community Drug Awareness Training (CDAT) These training programmes are aimed at building capacity in the Voluntary and Community Sector and the general public around substance misuse related issues. All courses are free to those who work or live in the Belfast or South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust areas.

These training courses are delivered by the ASCERT, FASA and the Falls Community Council as part of the Eastern Board Drug and Alcohol Consortium, and are funded by the Eastern Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Team

If you require any information on the attached course please contact me

James E Scott

Community Support Worker (S&E Belfast) EDACT

Forum for Action on Substance Abuse

Forum for Action on Suicide Awareness

178-180 Shankill Road

Belfast

BT13 2BH

Tel: 028 9080 3040

Email: james@fasaonline.org

E A S T B E L F A S T S P E A K S O U T

When: Wednesday 30^th September 7.30 to 9.00 p.m.

Where: Ashfield Boys’ School

Admission is free. Doors open at 7 p.m.

AIM

The aims of the debate are twofold: 

1. To provide access to leading politicians to discuss issues of general concern to the

    public

2. To encourage active participation in the political sphere from a cross-section of

   what can be seen to be a currently disappointed electorate/population

METHOD

There will be four or five guests each time and an independent chair.

The chair for 2009 will be Conor Bradford from BBC NI.

Panelists are:                   Laurence Robertson MP (Shadow Minister for NI, UCUNF)

Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA (DUP)

Naomi Long, Belfast Lord Mayor and MLA (Alliance)

Gerry Kelly MLA (Sinn Féin)

Patrick Corrigan (Programme Director, Amnesty International)                                          

THEME & PUBLICITY

The theme for questions from the floor is “Facing up to the future”

The event will be publicised chiefly throughout East Belfast communities and sixth forms.

James Smyth;   tel:  028 4461 7575.

james.smyth@nispeaksout.org.uk

September 2009

Inverary Community Centre Committee

AGM

Monday 3^rd August 2009

6.30pm in Inverary Community Centre

This is a great event and you should go along and see how the Community Centre is Managed it is a worth while visit and you will be able to see just how much Inverary Community Centre and its Manager Mrs Sandra Workman works so hard for the whole community in the Sydenham Area

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE ALL WELCOME

Terry Hoey chairman of the Palmerston Residents Association believes his article in the Belfast Telegraph and radio interview has cleared up some issues he had with the Belfast city airport watch spokeswoman. He feels her reply to say that Palmerston Road was not on the flight path for the airport was true, but he also feels that she clearly does not know the area as to where she thinks Larkfield Road and Connsbrook Ave are.

Airport Watch had carried out an audit of some 412 people from as far away as Rosetta and Stranmillis, which Terry feels are not on the flight path either, but she felt that it was worth while to audit them, Terry finds it strange that if airport watch has the ground swell of opinion in the Sydenham area that is where she should have carried out the audit. It was also strange Airport Watch did not state which schools were effected, as only one school remains in the Sydenham area Victoria Park Primary School.

Palmerston Residents Association has seen other audits that have taken place in the Sydenham area for youth facilities, we would be very interested to see any audits Airport Watch have carried out and what was included in them,  was our disabled community ask to take part, were any of the minority communities included. The association feels that if audits are carried out they should be made available to the public, as this is such an important issue where our local economy may be effected and in turn peoples jobs.

Terry looks to the Sydenham Business Park where multinational companies like Phoenix gas, NTL World,IKEA,B&Q and Sainsbury to mention a few. A host of other companies have now opened up close to the Belfast city airport, it has become an economical hub for East Belfast where people want to set up business beside the airport facility,the association has seen a lot of outside interference within the Sydenham area that is effecting the whole of the Sydenham Community and it is a strong believer in asking the community what it thinks.

Terry would like to thank everybody for the support he has been given for his article that appeared in the Belfast Telegraph and the Community Telegraph.   

Palmerston Residents Association ask for funding from the Community Safety Summer Splash 2009 programme to change this piece of land in to a Community Garden, and to involve our young people to help with the project. This was to continue all of the school summer holidays, it would have given some of our young people an activity through the summer holidays. This space is going to be a community garden and remembrance site, it is also to be used as an outside classroom for the local schools, Northern Ireland Railways will give talks about the dangers of playing on the railway lines. The Palmerston Residents Association ask for a grant of £1000.00, it would have been used as part of other sponsorships we are planning to involved in this project. It comes on the back of being turned down for funding also £1000.00 to stage an event for a Community watch Community Policing Event on the 22 August 09. The association felt the council would have funded these projects as they always say there are funds available, but as Terry Hoey chairman of the residents association has always maintained it is better to try and find funds from other sources. In the past four months we have been turned down for three grants to help with community projects within the area, Terry says he is only glad this has happened now and we have learnt our lessons on funding from the Council. We would have been in a worse state if it had been for our major event we are planning for next year. The Community Watch Emergency Services Event that will involve all the emergency services, we are hoping to involve services from both the UK and Ireland, the Palmerston Residents Association ask the council why there is not enough funds available to stage projects like ours, that will help within the community and give something back, and also teach our children to respect our community policing teams, as well as show them the dangers of alcohol abuse and drug abuse at a time when our young community are on leave from school. We say this is such a missed opportunity for them and for the council.     

The Chairman of the Palmerston Residents Association Terry Hoey would like to thank Beverley Surgenor of the Wesley Housing Association for the meeting at the site of their new development and the tour of the site, Terry would like to say how well it fitted into the surroundings and how sympathetic the new development is with the new trees and the surrounding gardens that have been made to complement the new development. The private garden to the rear of the development is an added touch and works well with the overall development,Terry was also very impressed with the interior of the new development the high finish and standards that has been reached for the residents of the home. They have taken care to insure that it has been finished to a very high standard and we thank them for that.

The Palmerston Residents Association would also like to thank Wesley Housing Associations Beverley Surgenor for agreeing to let the residents association place a plaque depicting the Smiles Family the history of the family in the local community and connections to Gustav Wolff, and their links to the Belfast Rope Works. This will give the community of Sydenham much pride, the plaque will be placed outside the development with a small garden to enable the community and its visitors to know the Smiles Family once lived on the site that is now the new development, this is a great achievement showing just how local communities and private enterprise can work together in building better community relations. We hope to work with Wesley Housing Association on other projects within the area.

We look  forward to the official opening of their new development ,and we wish them every success for the future, they have done a great job in improving the area and making sure that the surroundings complemented the area.           

Terry Hoey Chairman of the Palmerston Residents Association is pleased to say we have formed links with a new community group that has been set up in the lower Holywood Road in East Belfast.

We will work together on the proposed new Stadium planned for the Holywood Road in East Belfast, both groups have fears the site will destroy one of Northern Irelands prestigious routes along the Holywood Road and may wipe out a number of the green spaces.

The proposal is to replace the green spaces with 4000 car park spaces, the community groups involved feel this just cannot be allowed to happen, to destroy green spaces to accommodate a car park is unbelievable. We say to the the Belfast City Council to name any other City in Europe that would destroy a park,trees and wildlife habitat to replace with a car park.

The Planned Stadium will cause so many restrictions to the residents of the Lower Holywood Road, also two of our major schools in the area Ashfield Boys High School And Ashfield Girls High School, it begs the question has any thought gone into this plan, we already have a bottle neck at the Knocknagoney Roundabout on the Holywood Road and the Parkway entrances to the Belfast Side of the Sydenham By Pass at early morning  and throughout the day.

Our greatest fear would be on a match day, we have a lot of young mothers and senior citizens who travel along the Holywood Road to Tesco and the Holywood Exchange, what would the effect be on them if the Stadium was to hold a rock concert how would they get out to shops. We must remember that our planning services have not taken into account the need for local shops in the communities that will live around the proposed Stadium.

We also fear the volume of new vehicles that will travel along the Sydenham By Pass to the Stadium and new traffic that will also travel along to and from the Stadium along Parkway and the Holywood Road. This will make it almost impossible for local residents to carry on their normal daily lives .

Our community will lose out by the removal of our Children's Park, Football Pitches,and the local site that is used for lighting the seasonal bonfire, also clubs that  use the park for model airplane flying it has taken very hard work on behalf of community workers in the area to build a community for our young people, to see the possibility of them losing more resources in an area is beyond belief, the community has already been robbed of one asset to the area that being the Sydenham Youth Hall.

Our groups would like to see a full public inquiry into this proposed site, and to see impact studies on Traffic,Green Spaces,Wildlife and what effect it will have to local residents who live on the lower Holywood Road in their day to day existence. This is a major development planned for the area, we feel that our residents must have a say in this matter before the first sod is cut.

I am the Chairman of Palmerston Residents Association (the ‘Association’), an organisation which endeavours to represent the interests of and work for the good of the people living in the area in and around Sydenham in East Belfast. The Association is involved in many projects which it hopes will improve the Sydenham area and benefit it in the long-term. The Association is not a legal entity.

I first notified the Department of the Environment / Northern Ireland Environment Agency (the ‘Challenged Party’ or ‘CP’), of our interest in having properties at 2 & 4 Station Road, Sydenham, Belfast, BT4 1RE, (the ‘subject properties’), listed in and around October 2007; I mentioned in e-mail correspondence at this time my knowledge of the connection between the subject properties and Mr Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, co-founder of Harland & Wolff shipyards and former MP for the East Belfast constituency.

Around 3 months passed and I had heard nothing further from the CP and therefore was becoming anxious that any action was not being taken expeditiously as the properties were in my belief in risk of demolition. I sent a further e-mail in January 2008 to Mr Kirby at the CP, again enquiring of their position in relation to the subject properties and raising my concerns that the properties may be subjected to demolition and therefore requesting that ‘spot-listing’ be considered by them. In response to this e-mail of same date, Mr Kirby advised that the Senior Conservation Architect would be viewing the subject properties the following day. Copies of the e-mail correspondence referred to in this statement are attached hereto.

I also sent a letter to the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister, dated 27^th January 2008, in which I canvassed for the support of the Senior Ministers in protecting the subject properties, not least because of the perceived risk of demolition. I made clear therein my belief that the properties were worthy of protection because of their historic links to Mr Gustav Wilhelm Wolff. A response to this letter from the Office of First and Deputy First Minister was received, dated 31^st January 2008, stating that the previously mentioned letter had been passed to the CP.

A substantial response from the CP in relation to my letter dated 27^th January 2008 was received, dated 20^th February 2008. The response noted the issues raised by me in respect of the subject properties, in particular it references my plea that the buildings be “saved from destruction” “because of their historical connection with Gustav Wilhelm Wolff and because holding onto this part of our history would sit very well with the Titanic Quarter’”. The letter explained that the matter would be considered in due course by Mr Manus Deery, Principal Architect, who would decide whether the properties were worthy of being ‘spot listed’.

The next item of correspondence which I received was a letter from Mr Manus Deery, dated 28^th March 2008, advising that the CP was in the process of inspecting and gathering information on the subject properties to determine if same would meet the legislative test for listing. I am aware the subject properties were indeed ‘spot listed’ in and around the 17^th July 2008.

After hearing that the subject properties had been demolished in and around January 2009, but in advance of hearing of the CP’s decision, I contacted my local MLA, Councillor Naomi Long regarding the matter. I am aware that Cllr Long wrote to Councillor Sammy Wilson MP MLA, Minister of the Environment. In Cllr Long’s letter to Cllr Wilson, Cllr Long posed a number of questions:

1. Cllr Long pointed out that it appeared “bizarre” that “at a time when the Northern Ireland Executive and Belfast City Council are investing in a new Titanic Signature project to promote the City’s links with that famous vessel...that authentic heritage directly linked to the shipyard is permitted to be demolished.”

2. Whether a formal decision not to list the subject properties was taken and if so, the rationale for this.

3. Conversely to 2, whether the BPNs were allowed to lapse, permitting the subject properties to be demolished.

A fellow-member of the Association then received a letter from the CP dated 12^th February 2009. This letter advised that a Building Preservation Notice (BPN) was issued by the CP on each of the subject properties on 17^th July 2008, affording both properties protection for a period of 6 months. (up to and including 16^th January 2009). The letter advised that the CP:

“considered all of the available evidence, consultations and representations and concluded that the buildings did not meet the test of Article 42 of the Planning Order 1991 [as amended] i.e. that they did not meet the test of “special architectural or historic interest” required for permanent protection as listed buildings.”

The CP then explained its decision in view of the fact that a BPN was initially served upon the owners of the subject properties:

“The substantive difference between the initial and final decision by the Department was the establishment that the buildings were not as unusual and rare as initially thought.....in our view an argument that they were of special architectural interest could not be sustained”.

I understand that this view was based on the fact that one of the subject properties had had its Victorian-style interior added in the late Twentieth century whilst the other property’s interior had been completely modernised. ‘External changes’ to the property were also mentioned and in the CP’s view this contributed to the decision reached by them.

The letter also addressed my arguments that the buildings should have been protected by reason of their historical association with Gustav Wilhelm Wolff. The CP acknowledges that their own research confirmed the information which had been provided by me and the Association:

“The structures were indeed part of his now gone estate known as ‘the Den’. However....though of interest, this was not sufficient grounds upon which to protect the buildings. It did not make the buildings objects of special historical interest”.

To explain this decision, the CP made reference to Annex C of Planning Policy Statement 6 (PPS6) which states that:

“in the case of historical associations, there will generally need to be some additional quality or interest in the fabric of the building itself to justify listing. Either the building will have architectural merit in itself or it should be well preserved in a form which directly reveals its historical associations....[for example] because of the survival of

certain particular features.....”.

In addition, Cllr Wilson responded to Cllr Long’s letter above, and in response thereto made the following points:

1. A decision not to list the subject properties was taken in advance of the expiration of the BPNs.

2. As per the reasons outlined above in the correspondence from the CP to the Querist dated 12^th February 2009, the CP concluded that the subject properties were not of special architectural interest.

3. The Minister acknowledged the historic interest in the subject properties by reason of their association with Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, however he comments that the association though of interest was not of sufficient ‘weight’ to justify listing. The Minister refers as his Department did to PPS6, Annex C, which is as stated above. The Minister concludes that as the subject properties had been altered since Wolff’s time, historic associations were not directly revealed and therefore the subject properties were not eligible for listing.

Both myself and the Association and many of the local residents in our area are deeply aggrieved by the decision taken by the CP in respect of the subject properties. Having sought legal advice, I am not satisfied that their decision was correct. I wish to seek redress, by way of Judicial Review, to challenge their decision and have same publicly declared erroneous by a Court of law. Hopefully if we are successful this would ensure the future of other historic properties which will not suffer the same fate as a result of poor decision making by the public body in question.

News Release

Sydenham Community Station

We are very please to tell you that Palmerston Residents Association has been in talks with NIR, George Best Belfast City Airport, EBCDA, Parks and Leisure Department and Neighbourhood Watch.

What is going to happen?

New Flower Beds

Tree Planting

Community Garden

Fencing along front of station removed at disabled access

Flower Beds

Will take into account both rail platforms shrubs are to be planted, along with roses in all colours. This work will be carried out for you the community of Sydenham

Tree Planting

Will include the front of the station and along the Bangor side of the track with various tree specimens. This work will be carried out for you the community of Sydenham

Community Garden

This is a very special garden with raised planters made from railway sleepers and disabled access. The garden will be special because the planters will be used by the local schools in the area to grow plants and shrubs. Our senior citizens will also have a planter in the area which will also be used by NIR as an open class room to teach our children about the dangers of tracks and rail lines. There will also be a memorial garden set aside for local residents and community workers who in the past worked for the better of our community to bring about better living standards for all us. This work will be done for you the community of Sydenham.

Fencing

Fencing will be removed the length of the disabled entrance to give the station the appearance of a much softer look, adding character to the frontage

of the station. This work will be carried for you the community of sydenham.

Our Sponsors

The Sydenham Station has been sponsored by NIR, George Best Belfast City Airport, EBCDA, Parks and Leisure and Neighbourhood Watch,

The Palmerston Residents Association has been working with our sponsors to make this happen for our community, the association has felt for some time that our station did not reflect our community we felt the Sydenham Community has been left for to long with out improvements to the life of the local community. The Residents Association has seen great changes taking place within our community, people are working very hard to bring enjoyment to al of our community. We only have to look at the Titanic festival last year and the George Best Community Cup this year running with the Titanic Festival. These events are all being organised by the local youth in the area. Palmerston Residents Association are still in talks with NIR to have it rebranded and known as Sydenham Community Station, we are also in talks with them to bring special trains to our community station for away days for the local children in the area. We would also like to see NIR bring their special train for children with face painters for the younger children. Why do we want this to happen? The Palmerston Residents Association cares about the community and will work hard to bring about changes for our senior citizens, Young Mothers, the Youth, in fact everyone in the Sydenham area.

Sydenham Station Footbridge

We can confirm that NIR are not the owner of the bridge, we believe it to be the responsibility of the road service. We now want changes to the bridge and we are hoping to have talks with the road service, backed by NIR to have something done about the footbridge to enable all the community to have access to all of the services at Sydenham Station.

Palmerston Residents Association would like to thank all the sponsors involved in bringing about the changes that are now taking place we would also like to thank all the people in the background that work on behalf of our community and who have helped with this project

Katy Best, Michelle Hartfield, Gerard McAtarsney, Alan Mc Haffie, Chris Deconnick Sean McCormick, Sandra Workman, David McConnell, Robert McCreary, Naomi Long, Chris Lyttle and Jim Rodgers,

We would ask all our community both young and old to look after our Station, we are still in talks with NIR to bring youth and child based away days to our community. We hope this will take place soon we need your help do not let anyone damage or spray-paint in or around our station as this will affect everything we are trying to do with the station. PLEASE HELP TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY BETTER FOR ALL OF US.

Terry Hoey

Palmerston Residents Association

Speed limits exist to protect all road users police resources alone have only a limited impact in enforcing them.We have found that community involvement enables far better coverage especially in terms of time available to devote to this important cause, for this reason surrey police provides training and equipment via the community Speed watch scheme to empower residents to help tackle the dangerous problem of speeding.

Volunteers to the scheme are provided with a speed gun,signs and essential user training. Once a suitable area is approved,Speed watch teams note the registration number and speed of the speeding vehicles in designated locations and report them to the police who, in turn write a warning letter to the registered keeper.

If a vehicle is caught a second time a final warning letter is hand delivered and a warning given in person. Any further offences may result in a fine or penalty points on a licence the scheme was recently established in Shamley Green and Ellen Green and it is hoped that Alford and Dunsfold will follow suit early in 2009 (source)(Safer Neighbourhoods Surrey Police)

The Palmerston Residents Association has been calling for a 20mph for some time to control speed on our main roads like Station Road, Palmerston Road,Inverary Drive, Larkfield Drive, Connsbrook Ave and Pimms Ave. Speed has been a great worry due to road conditions in the areas we see more cars parking in the area on footpaths that in turn causes problems to young mothers with prams, our senior citizens and disabled community.

The problem gets even more congested on Sundays when our churches are being used and other cars are then coming from other areas to park and attend their church. We see the the problem of speeding as a massive problem as more and more cars use the area,our children are put more and more at risk coming home from schools in the area.

We would look to the Surrey policing project and ask why this cannot be tried here as a test area and if it helps to cut down in speeding it could be rolled out in other areas using the Neighbourhood watch groups to carry out the speeding checks,the Palmerston Residents Association has looked at this problem for some time now we are well known for pointing it out to the planning office regarding traffic in the area, when they let developers build apartments in the area at that time we warned how bad the area was becoming due to excess traffic.

The Palmerston Residents Association want action on speed and parking in the area, we would also ask for double yellow lines at the Entrance of Victoria Road as it meets with Palmerston Road to save a fatal accident taking place at this junction.  

As you can see by the Belfast Telegraph photo impression on how it will look when you look at the plans they might show a different story our concerns would be parking in the area of the stadium, it will have car spaces for 4000 cars this is a vast amount of cars going to a main route and junction. We would ask where the entrances and the exits will be placed at such a busy junction as the Tillysburn round about. Looking at the photo the only entrances would have to be on the Holywood Road, this will bring 4000 extra cars onto a single lane in both directions on to Holywood Road.

We would be interested to know has a traffic survey taken place for the Holywood Road and the Sydenham By Pass, if so what were the results of this. We would also be interested to see what the outcome was with regard to the two major schools also sited on the Holywood Road, what health and safety issues would have to be introduced for the extra volume of traffic when games take place.

The Stadium is state of the art and a centre of Excellence with a national training centre our concerns would be that the Youth in the Sydenham and surrounding areas may forfeit football pitches that they all ready have in the Inverary Playing Fields. Our concerns would be the Youth in the area be able to play football at the new pitches now being planned and if not where would the Youth go.

Stadium grounds show a road leading down the side of the pitches to a bowling green and travelling across the Sydenham by Pass, is this an entrance to the site from the Sydenham By Pass and we would also be interested to see the traffic surveys  for this link with cars travelling to George Best City Airport. We would have concerns regarding tailbacks leading up to the intersection from the airport.

The new railway halt we would be very interested in this halt and to its purpose of use will this halt be a state of the art halt to get both passengers to and from George Best City Airport, and also have passenger travel ramps along the covered bridge and will there be Disabled Access to both sides of the rail track with toilet facilities. we ask Northern Ireland Railways to tell us what the plans are for Sydenham Station. We as a Residents Association are working with Northern Ireland Railways in relation to Sydenham Station.

Inverary Playing Fields are a place for the whole community of Sydenham with major events taking place each year, it is a place where everyone is welcome with a lot of work on behalf of Sandra Workman, Robert McCartney and David McConnell, they have brought about great events to Sydenham such as the Titanic Festival and now the George Best Community Cup. They have worked very hard with these events, and our concerns are will they be able to still take place.  Sydenham cannot afford to lose any of these events because of the great community relations they have brought to the area.

The Palmerston Residents Association want to know what payback will the Sydenham area get and what payback will the Community get ,the Stadium looks very impressive but will the local community be able to use it, our area will look run down and not vibrant. The Residents Association want to see our areas upgraded to enable it to take its place beside such an investment as £128m. We want to see our youth centre established as a state of the art youth and learning centre, to enable everyone in the community to have a home and a place to call their own with a coffee shop, computer suite and workrooms for both able bodied and disabled. We want to see our senior citizens and disabled have the right  to travel to Bangor an the Belfast City Airport by train with out having to scale 41 steps up and 42 steps down to a station platform,we hope this will be pay Back time for our community

Palmerston Residents Association

Palmerston Residents Association Would Like to thank our Community Policing Team for the great input they have made with PACT and the dedication they show to our community, Terry says on behalf of the Palmerston Residents Association once again thank you for the dedication and hard work that you put into our community in Sydenham.

The Palmerston Residents Association are pleased to say that they have been elected on to the PACT panel at a meeting in Wandsworth Community Centre Terry Hoey says this is great for the association.

Terry Hoey says how pleased he was at the election of the Chairman Peter Quigley, he has nothing but praise for Peter who works hard for Belmont Council of Churches and has Chaired the CPLC for some time his Chairmanship of PACT means that his leadership qualities will assure PACT will be a great success.We also thank him for his Chairman's Report 2008/2009 this is an excellent piece of work and shows just how seriously and with detail and time he takes putting it together 

We are also so pleased Alison Smith was elected as Vice Chair Allison is a great asset for PACT as she works so hard in the Community and works with the young community, Terry says if we had more people in Northern Ireland like Alison we would not have any problems and on behalf of the Palmerston Residents Association Terry says well done and we look forward to working with you.

The Residents Association looks forward to working along side the other External Panel Members that are not subject to election and feel with their constant attendance the PACT will become a vital aid to all communities in the areas it represents in South & East Belfast, Victoria Neighbourhood area.  We also look forward to working with the other community groups from RACKS Walkway Community Centre, East Belfast Alternatives,Knocknagoney Community Centre and Ashfield Boys School,We also feel that we must thank Secretary Nuala McKinley for the Great Work she carries out. 

The Palmerston Residents Association feels that parking issues in the Sydenham area are becoming very grave, planners are encouraging more cars into to the area in their decisions to grant planning permission on more and more apartments in the Sydenham area our MLAs cannot say its not down to them,  who passes the plans at council level? are our councillors not MLAs also.

The Residents Association has for a long time called on our planning services to take into account traffic in the Sydenham area when they are reaching decisions on any new developments, we think its a bit short sighted of our MLAs to think that residents in the Sydenham area would not think of buying cars, to shift the problem on to the police is absurd to say the least, it is up to the councillors to work with the community and listen to them when they say there are to many apartments in the Sydenham area.

We have pleaded with them to think of the community in regard to our disabled, young mothers and the elderly, but they fail to do something about it, it is not much good just playing lip service on these issues, the community wants action. Not passing the problem on to someone else to sort out,we would ask them to think about our bus service if  the bus cannot get up our main roads how will our young mothers, elderly and disabled get to where ever they need to go, parking is a time bomb waiting to explode in the Sydenham area.

In the march to build apartments and railroad through planning decisions facts of life are being ignored, everyone needs to get somewhere no matter who they are, everybody needs to to shop and everybody wants a decent way of life. When the planning department and our councillors cannot see that we have a problem,we have seen  local shops demolished to make way for apartments without any vision as to where people will shop it is up to our councillors not to grant planning decisions if they are causing more parking problems,removing shopping facilities,and not meeting the requirements of our young mothers, elderly and disabled.

Living Streets is Putting People First We encourage more people to walk,and to ensure our streets and towns are designed to allow people to do this. Professionals are  encouraging people to walk and become healthier walking issues are firmly on the front foot and we should be able to do that without trying to negotiate around parked cars. We want to lobby our MLAs and our councillors for change to bring about a better way of life for us all without passing our concerns on to someone else to deal with it.

Living Streets is a Major UK Charity working in the UK to bring better streets for all  we are working  to bring better streets to Sydenham and to encourage more of our children to walk to school, in turn making them healthier,  it also encourages pupils to walk and talk on their way to school and surely making people healthier is what we all want to do but we cannot achieve that if we do not look at parking issues and start to tackle them for the good of the residents and the community as a whole.