The 'shared space' status of a North Belfast community facility has been questioned by a councillor.
The comments came during a dispute at City Hall over a council initiative at the Girdwood Community Hub which saw Fred Cobain say he had “difficulty calling it a shared space programme”.
The Castle DUP Councillor made the remarks at a Belfast City Council committee meeting which was receiving an update on the Girdwood Community Hub 'Shared Space and Youth Management' proposal by the council.
Opened on the site of a former army base in 2016, Girdwood Community Hub is located just off the Crumlin Road on Cliftonpark Avenue in the heart of North Belfast. The council manages the delivery of the hub, while the Stormont Department for Communities leads on the wider development of the Girdwood Park site.
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The facility has a full-size 3G pitch and changing rooms for soccer, GAA and rugby, a 45-station gym and fitness studio and a range of other facilities for conferences, meetings, workshops, sports and cultural events.
However at the latest meeting of the council’s People and Communities Committee DUP Councillor Cobain questioned how welcoming the facility had become for protestants.
He said: “This is a fantastic facility for North Belfast, with huge potential, but I have to say, to call it a shared space programme - I find that quite difficult. A lot of protestant unionist groups in this area feel isolated when they go there. There is a lot of antisocial behaviour around groups coming to this (place).
“My concern when we are talking about a community management programme, is that you have to ensure the unionist community around that area are fully supportive. There have been difficulties here over the last few years, and I know a lot of football teams that have been there simply now refuse to go, because they feel intimidated.
“So it is a bit strong for me to call it a shared space, in the sense that we think of a shared space. There is a lot of work to be done around it. But the facility itself has huge potential, and I would like to see the antisocial behaviour there addressed, so people from all communities can go there in peace.”
Sinn Féin Councillor for Oldpark JJ Magee replied: “I am very disappointed in that. I attend the Girdwood Community Hub on a bi-monthly basis, and I have heard this line before coming from some people, particularly from within the DUP. Girdwood has been an absolute jewel in the crown of North Belfast.
“It is a shared space, and I would like to know who are those football teams that say they can't go to it. Every Friday night there are hundreds of kids up there playing football, from all across Belfast, and further afield in the league.”
He added: “Bi-monthly, we get the statistics on antisocial behaviour, and they are minimal. Yes there is antisocial behaviour, there are young people using antisocial behaviour right along the interface area. Those same people are causing antisocial behaviour within the middle of the New Lodge, within the middle of Ardoyne, within the middle of Woodvale.
“These kids are transient, and that should not cloud what Girdwood is. It is a fantastic centre, it is really doing good, and the youth work from its opening until now has been phenomenal.”
Independent Councillor for Oldpark Paul McCusker said: “I would agree, it is a fantastic facility for North Belfast. Yes, there are issues, but there are issues on other sites right across the city, and how we deal with them is to work together to try and resolve them.
“There is a lot more positive that goes on there than negative, and we have to promote that. The idea behind the forum was to make sure both sides of the community are represented, and my understanding is that is happening.”
Councillor Cobain responded: “I am all in favour of people working together, so we can move forward in North Belfast, I am not trying to bring this up as a negative point. I am just trying to ensure that communities feel comfortable about going to Girdwood.
“If we are going to set up any kind of board or forum I want to make sure everybody has bought into it - it is the only way this is going to work. I don’t want to mention clubs, but I could mention three or four who used to go to Girdwood but who no longer go there. They feel they were intimidated out.”
He said: “Anything that we can do to ensure antisocial or sectarian behaviour is addressed, I am in favour of that,” and added: “I don’t want to see this facility become a one-community facility.”
The Girdwood community hub forum is chaired by the council with representation from local community and voluntary representatives, stakeholders, and statutory agencies, alongside two councillors.
The Shared Space and Youth Management programme is delivered in partnership with local youth providers from six-neighbouring community youth organisations - Lower Shankill, Lower Oldpark, Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum and New Lodge Arts, TAMHI and Our Club Our Community. Councillors at the council People and Communities Committee agreed to continue work with these organisations until at least 2025.
The council states in report: “Girdwood community hub has the principles of shared space built into its core and, to enable the facility to benefit inter and intra community relations, the council set up a dedicated community hub forum whose role is to promote and help advise on enhancing the hub as a welcoming, open, shared, and safe space.”
It states: “Programme delivery from the local organisations has been shown to contribute to the reduction of antisocial behaviour at the site and has also delivered on other important outcomes linked to good relations and shared space. The summer programming has always contributed towards Girdwood being considered a safe and welcoming space for all and proves important during times of potential tension.”
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