A PUBLIC consultation is to be held on the future of a bonfire site at a North Belfast interface which became the focus of political and community tensions last summer.

Materials have been gathered again this year at the bonfire in Adam Street in the loyalist Tigers Bay area near an interface with the mainly nationalist New Lodge. 

Last July nationalist politicians called for the removal of the Eleventh Night bonfire, saying homes in the neighbouring New Lodge had come under attack. Social media footage emerged of loyalists driving golf balls across Duncairn Gardens towards nationalist homes.

Unionist politicians queued up to visit the bonfire to express support and accusing other  politicians of raising tensions.

A High Court bid by two Stormont ministers to compel the PSNI to assist in removing the bonfire failed after police warned it would create a "real and immediate risk to life".

However, in a scathing judgment last September, a judge ruled the Adam Street pyre had been used by some loyalists to "intimidate and terrorise" residents in the New Lodge area by hitting golf balls, throwing bricks and singing sectarian songs from the vicinity of the bonfire.

Mr Justice Horner said it was "intimidation of the worst kind" and was "designed to incite, to try and produce a visceral reaction".

In recent months, the Department for Infrastructure sought an abandonment order for Adam Street. Under the law it means the street would cease to be maintainable by the department and any public right of way would be removed.

The Department has previously insisted the "footway link will be retained". It said it hoped the abandonment would facilitate a "redevelopment" of the site.

According to legal papers, the Department for Communities and Invest NI own parts of the area to be abandoned and the disused land would revert back to their control.

The neighbouring North City Business Centre has plans to redevelop the site with extra enterprise accommodation, according to the documents.

The Department for Communities is now set to launch a consultation on the way forward for the disused site.

A Department for Communities spokeswoman said: "The Department is seeking to conduct a development study of the Adam Street/Duncairn Gardens area.

"The department has undertaken initial discussions with the local community. A study will determine the options for the end use of the land and will be subject to a public consultation, the timing of which is still to be determined."

An Invest NI spokeswoman said: "Invest NI owns a building located at Duncairn Gardens in North Belfast.

"It also owns an area of ground outside the perimeter wall of the building – Adam Street.

 "Until March 2022 the Department for Infrastructure had legal responsibility for Adam Street. Following the abandonment by the Department for Infrastructure, Invest NI has now assumed responsibility for the road.

"Invest NI is liaising closely with relevant parties to examine ways in which activity at the site can be managed to minimise disruption to the surrounding area."

North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín said: “We welcome the news of the Department For Communities are launching this consultation on Adam Street and we will respond when the consultation opens formally.

“Clearly the area needs regeneration and investment for the benefit of the local community and not unwanted bonfires.

“I would urge people to have their say when the consultation opens and to voice positive and constructive proposals that will have a beneficial impact upon the area long into the future.”