LORD MAYOR SAYS ‘MAKE IT BELFAST’ ONE YEAR AFTER BANK BUILDINGS FIRE

Belfast City Council has joined with Belfast Chamber, Belfast One and
Visit Belfast to announce a range of projects aimed at continuing the
regeneration and development of the city centre, one year after the
Primark Fire.

The council, its partners, Belfast business community and other
stakeholders have been continuing the successful work carried out in the
wake of the fire, which began in the run up to last Christmas helping
increase footfall across much of the city at the peak of the festive
period.

Already underway is a marketing campaign Make it Belfast, funded by a
£300,000 council investment. Led and delivered by Visit Belfast, the
Make it Belfast campaign promotes the unique attractions and benefits of
central Belfast to shoppers and visitors, and highlights the unique mix
of retail on offer, from independent shops to international brands. In
addition, the marketing campaign will highlight events planned in the
run-up to Christmas. These include events programmed by Belfast One,
such as the popular Belfast Restaurant Week.

At a recent meeting of the council’s City Growth and Regeneration
Committee, members agreed to support a number of initiatives which will
continue to attract footfall and revitalise the city centre. Among the
initiatives agreed by committee, are:

· Developing concept proposals for additional pop-up parks at
locations in the city centre to encourage a range of users into Belfast
and increase the time they spend there;

· developing a lighting and dressing strategy for the city;

· improving accessibility and connectivity by enhancing the
city’s entries and lanes;

· more family-friendly events; and

· providing funding to enhance a number of cultural events,
e.g. expansion of Culture Night to include Culture Day.

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor John Finucane said: “It’s been a
year since the Primark fire and it has been a challenging 12 months for
our city centre traders, particularly those who were directly impacted
by the necessary cordon and road closures that resulted.

“I’m pleased that our city centre is largely reopened again, and we
have undertaken a lot of work in recent months with our city
stakeholders and partners to get the message out there that Belfast is
well and truly open for business; but we can’t take our foot off the
pedal.

“These initiatives which form part of the City’s Revitalisation
Programme have been made possible by funding from the Treasury,
government departments and Council. This activity will continue to build
on momentum, supporting the city’s cultural offering to continue to
drive footfall and to animate the city, but also looking at how we
improve our public realm and reimagine how we use our city centre
spaces,” he said.

“We have an opportunity now, not just to go back to how things were,
but to be creative about the future of our city centre and examine how
Council can help support its development to cater for everyone’s needs
including traders, pedestrians, cyclists and public transport
providers.”

Anne McMullan, Director of Marketing and Communications at Visit Belfast
said, “As the city’s official destination marketing organisation and
the tourism marketing delivery agent for Belfast City Council, we work
closely with partners to deliver consistent and sustained marketing to
restore confidence, motivate visits and uplift the city’s reputation.

“Our marketing activity owes its success to a ‘Team Belfast’
approach, with continued collaboration and support from Belfast City
Council, local businesses and city stakeholders.”

Rajesh Rana, President of Belfast Chamber said: “We are almost one
year on and the objective now is to build on and bolster what this great
city has to offer. We encourage people to search #MakeitBelfast to see
the all that central Belfast has to offer.

“We fully commend Belfast City Council and we look forward to seeing
these new initiatives coming forward in the months and years ahead.”

Managing Director of Belfast One, Clare Maguire, commented: “Belfast
One collaborated with local businesses, retailers and restaurant owners
to engage the community and drive footfall in the immediate aftermath of
the fire and our year long programme of activities, events and member
offers provided visitors with compelling reasons to visit the city
centre.

“Next month we are bringing the phenomenonally successful Belfast
Restaurant Week back before implementing numerous initiatives in the run
up to the festive period which we anticipate will drive dramatic
increases in footfall.”

She added: “We welcome the investment that the Council is bringing
forward which will continue to grow the excitement around the city
core”.

Under the City Growth and Regeneration committee proposals, a number of
creative lighting projects are being developed for Castle Street and
Castle Arcade with the support of traders, and discussions are ongoing
around enhanced Christmas lighting and creative lighting features at a
number of city centre locations.

Improvements are also planned as part of an Entries and Lanes Strategy
to enhance the connectivity, appearance, character and use of city
centre entries with the first phase to include Castle Arcade, Crown
Entry, Joy’s Entry, Pottinger’s Entry, Coles Alley, Wellington
Street and Winecellar Street.

As well as physical improvements, Council has agreed to provide
financial support to enhance a number of cultural events in the city
including the Belfast Music Summer Season 2019, showcasing the best of
our local music across a variety of city centre locations and Culture
Night with the addition of Culture Day, creating a programme of events
to drive footfall and benefit retailers by encouraging movement across
the city centre.

A range of family-friendly activities are in the planning including a
global music and dance programme at Writers’ Square, a bazaar and food
market at St Anne’s Cathedral, and a music stage at City Hall to
facilitate performances from local bands, dance and theatre workshops,
as well as a busking competition, pop-up performances and family cinema
events.

A number of ‘foodie’ events are also being organised by city centre
partners including additional weekend events, food demonstrations, a
producers’ market as well as The Big Belfast Brunch.

The Lord Mayor added: “It’s vital that we support our city centre
partners and stakeholders to maximise the collective potential of our
regeneration efforts to transform the city and develop a shared vision
for the future of our city centre that reflects the changing ways people
use public spaces.”

The proposals agreed by the City Growth and Regeneration Committee are
subject to ratification by full Council when it next meets on September
2.