HEALTH authorities are remaining tight-lipped about long-mooted plans for a “regional laboratories complex” in West Belfast.
The Belfast Trust has refused to be drawn on its plans for the derelict Broadway Towers site, which community reps say should make way for social homes.
In July, the Trust said it was considering several options for the four-acre site but refused to outline what these are.
This week, The Andersonstown News can reveal that the Trust is keeping plans for a “regional laboratories complex” under consideration.
It comes after West Belfast MLA Gerry Carroll submitted an Assembly question to the Health Minister, Robin Swann, asking him to detail the Trust’s plans for the labs complex.
The Health Minister said the Trust is considering a “range of potential developments” which are dependent on “future budget availabilities, value for money and affordability".
In 2015, the complex’s three dilapidated towers – Broadway Grosvenor, and Victoria – were closed and cleared of some 200 residents, many of them workers at the nearby Royal Victoria Hospital. The Trust had estimated that it would cost £25million to renovate the complex’s existing 240 flats.
Documents seen by the Andersonstown News show that the last concerted push to have the land released for public housing was rebuffed by health chiefs in 2016.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll has called on the Trust to engage with the local community around its plans.
“West Belfast is in the grips of a devastating housing crisis, so there is a clear demand for social homes on the site,” he said.
“The towers have been lying empty for over five years and we’ve yet to see any progress on the supposed laboratory plans, which raises questions about the need or urgency for any such development.
“There is a clear desire for social homes in this area and at the very least the Trust should listen to the concerns of the community and explore that potential.
“If the Trust is adamant that it needs the Broadway Towers site for a regional laboratory then that can’t be dismissed off-hand, but the existence of several other options for the site suggests that this isn’t the case.
“In any scenario, the local community can’t be kept in the dark and should have an input in finding a suitable and feasible plan for the site.”
