SDLP candidate Gary McKeown is standing in Botanic DEA in next week’s council election, after having been first elected as a councillor since 2019. 

Speaking on his record as councillor he says when he was elected in 2019 he wanted to be a voice to speak for the many diverse communities in Botanic to ensure everyone’s voice was heard whilst also delivering properly run council services for residents.

“When I was elected in 2019 it was my intention to ensure the people of Botanic had a strong voice who was going to speak up for them and represent their hopes, aspirations and needs. Botanic is a diverse community with a lot of different needs and it can be difficult to ensure that everybody’s voice is heard and it was my intention to speak up for all the communities and residents in Botanic and hopefully that’s what I’ve achieved.

“I’ve worked very hard to gain an understanding of the various challenges and the hopes the different parts of Botanic have and I’ve given voice to that in terms of my work at the council and focused on how we deliver services for residents and how we shape this city and my intention was also that we aspire for better and to create a city that was fit for the future that would encourage young people to stay here."

The SDLP candidate continued: “Green infrastructure, investment in our parks and retaining the built heritage and culture of the city. I think sometime we don’t realise what we have here with the unique character of Belfast and it was about preserving that.”

Gary said he believes climate change and the worry about the sustainability of the planet and of the local area in Botanic are very important to constituents and said he has worked hard to ensure the area is at the forefront of developing green infrastructure and expanding programmes to improve local parks and amenities.

“Climate change is an existential threat which needs to be at the heart of every decision that we make as a society and a big part of what I’ve been trying to do has been trying to build greener infrastructure and an environmentally friendly future. At the moment I’m pressing very hard to get agreement from the DfI for segregated, comprehensive cycling infrastructure across the city.

“I’ve been pushing as well for an extension of Belfast Bikes into more parts in the south of the city and I’ve got more cycling docking stations earmarked for the Malone and Lisburn Road. We saw in the pandemic how effective Belfast Bikes were for people getting out and about and I want to help expand and build on that.”

Gary continued: “I’ve been very engaged in improving our parks and our entries. We saw in the pandemic how people spent more time in their local area and that’s why I think supporting our parks and improving our entries is vitally important. We’re blessed with excellent green spaces like Botanic Gardens and Ormeau Park but we need to keep building on that."