New Lower Oldpark Street Named

This month, Lower Oldpark will have a new Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) Patch Manager.

Andrea McAleenan, who had been in the job from May 2022, left the role at the end of September 2023. Details of the new Patch Manager are not currently available.

NIHE Patch Managers provide tenancy and estate management services to NIHE tenants and the communities in which they live. 

Patch Managers are a single point of contact in a specific geographical patch e.g. Lower Oldpark. They deal with things like:

· New tenancy sign-ups.

· Transfer and mutual exchange applications.

· Rent account matters.

· Planned maintenance schemes.

· Payments from the NIHE.

· Tenancy succession and assignment, and joint tenancies.

· Anti-social behaviour and community safety issues.

· Managing empty NIHE homes.

Until a NIHE Lower Oldpark Patch Manager is in post, if you have issue, ring the NIHE on 03448 920900 and ask for Housing Management North Belfast.

On Thursday 10th August, Lower Oldpark Community Association (LOCA) hosted a meeting organised by local MLA Brian Kingston.

The meeting brought together representatives from a number of public bodies (see list below). Its purpose was to generate action to improve the environment for people living in 61 to 69 Oldpark Road and 1 to 7 Manor Drive.

This process was started in early 2022 by former Belfast City Councillor Dale Pankhurst and LOCA, and is now being led by Brian Kingston and Councillor Jordan Doran.

There is a recognition that the needs of the residents living at this interface have not been addressed. They have suffered significantly from asb and sectarian attacks over many years.

In December 2022, the PSNI prepared a Crime Prevention Assessment Report which included some recommendations to improve the local environment. 

During the meeting on 10th August, these were considered along with other suggestions. The recommendations and suggestions are now being looked at by the public bodies. 

Any actions taken will be subject to consultation with the residents.

In addition to the politicians and representatives from LOCA who attended the meeting, representatives from the following organisations were also there:

· Northern Ireland Housing Executive

· PSNI

· Department for Communities

· Department for Infrastructure

· Department for Justice

· Belfast City Council

Planned improvements to the public realm on the front of the Oldpark Road, from near its junction with the Crumlin Road to Cliftonville Circus, have been revived by the Department for Communities (DfC).

When the plans were first put forward in 2017, Lower Oldpark Community Association (LOCA) consulted all local residents. This was followed in 2018 by the submission of a planning application (Reference: LA04/2018/2378/F) by DfC. This received planning approval in 2019. 

However, the scheme was then put on hold until earlier this year when it was revived. Things are now moving ahead and it is hoped that work will begin this financial year (before April 2024).

On the stretch of the Oldpark Road that passes through the Lower Oldpark neighbourhood, the planned work includes:

• Provision of natural stone paving at the front, sides and rear of the former Oldpark Library building and at the entrances to Century Street, Albertville Drive and Manor Street (including the triangle of land at the front of Filor Court) and on a stretch of the Oldpark Road, on both sides, below Shannon Street.

• Resurfacing of remaining pavements with asphalt along the main Oldpark Road.

• Resurfacing of on-street parking bays along the main Oldpark Road.

• Retention of existing trees, and planting of new trees, on footpaths along the main Oldpark Road.

• A reduction of the sharpness of the corner of the Oldpark Road/ Manor Street junction, making it easier for traffic coming down the Oldpark Road and entering Manor Street.

Twelve social houses under construction in Lower Oldpark are on target for completion in September 2024.

The ten houses and two bungalows are being developed by Clanmil Housing on the strip of land running from Manor Street, down Alloa Street and into the former Annalee Court.

Lower Oldpark Community Association (LOCA) recently carried out an exercise to name the new street being  created. All local residents were provided with a list of five options from which they could choose their favourite. Four of the street names, (Annalee/ Avonbeg/ Dargle/ Roe) were selected as options as they were the names of pre-redevelopment terraced streets in the area.

John Hewitt was selected as an option because it is the name of the park facing the new street. John Hewitt was a Northern Ireland poet who lived in a house on the site of the park.

Twenty two households responded on time with Annalee receiving 11 votes, John Hewitt 5, Roe 3, Dargle 2 and Avonbeg 1. The residents’ choice was therefore Annalee. 

This list of options and preferences was sent by Clanmil Housing to Belfast City Council which will make the final decision on the street name to be used. 

The second part of the name e.g. street, court, place, will also be decided by the Council.

LOCA would thank all who responded to the consultation.

The Housing Executive (NIHE) will continue to hold back the release of the Lower Oldpark ‘Bonfire Site’ for private development unless LOCA abandons its request for restrictive covenants. 

The purpose of the restrictive covenants is to ensure that only three-bedroom family homes are built and that the new houses are sold only for owner-occupation and not to private landlords and investors.

The Bonfire Site was supposed to be released on the market for private housing development in 2021. This option was agreed with the NIHE because it said that a housing needs assessment didn’t support social housing provision.

After LOCA requested the use of restrictive covenants in 2021, the NIHE put a hold on progress and stopped engaging with LOCA for a year.

During a meeting organised and attended by Brian Kingston MLA and Councillor Jordan Doran at LOCA on 25thSeptember 2023, NIHE Director of Regional Services, Elma Newberry, said that legal advice the NIHE received prevented the use of restrictive covenants. However, she refused to make available the content of the legal advise even though the NIHE could choose to release it.

LOCA will not support the ‘Bonfire Site’ being sold for the potential development of private apartments and houses that could be sold, in the first instance, to private landlords and investors. This is a view the NIHE Director said she couldn’t understand. The future of the site remains unclear.