REPRESENTATIVES from a number of key statutory bodies have been invited to an online conference this morning where they will face questions about homelessness and climate collapse in Belfast.

Organised by the Take Back The City Coalition, the event will see politicians and public servants outline their views on overcoming the housing and climate crisis in a city divided by sectarian interfaces.

The webinar will be chaired by Rory Hearne, bestselling author of ‘Housing Shock – The Irish Housing Crisis and How to Solve it.’

It will include keynote contributions from Minister for Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon MLA; Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Grainia Long; and Belfast City Council’s Director of Place and Economy, Alistair Reid.

The Take Back The City coalition – which includes Participation and the Practice of Rights, Queens University School of Architecture, and the Town and Country Planning Association and others – is working with families in housing need to develop plans for a prototype sustainable neighbourhood at the former Mackie’s factory site in West Belfast.

The 25-acre site is owned by the Department for Communities (DfC), is located in the area of highest social housing demand in the North of Ireland. The site forms part of a a so-called ‘peace line’ where riots and protests took place earlier this year in response to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Campaigners have criticised a Draft Master Plan, which involves a land transfer from DfC to Belfast City Council, to develop a greenway and private housing as a ‘shared space’, with no plans for public, social or affordable housing.

Speaking ahead of the conference Marissa McMahon, Housing Rights Organiser for PPR, said: “We desperately need new thinking to tackle rising homelessness and climate collapse. Belfast is an increasingly diverse city with a young and growing population whose needs have outgrown sectarian territorial claims and our broken housing system.

“It won’t be easy, but the recent riots show how badly the policies of the past have failed. It’s now 23 years since the promises of the Good Friday Agreement were made and we have failed to deliver in north and west Belfast where sectarian carve ups are embedded in our decision-making processes.

“Vacant land and walls dividing communities, as well as never-ending housing waiting lists, are not normal. We need a new vision, new leadership and a new Belfast for the population of the present and the future.”

Hugh Ellis, Policy Director at Town and Country Planning Association, said: “This is the start of a process of outreach to statutory bodies to discover what challenges they face in Belfast and how we may bring our expertise to bear to support future development. There is absolutely no reason why the people living in the poorest areas of Belfast should not be the beneficiaries of a world leading example of sustainable neighbourhood development.”

Rory Hearne said: “I’m delighted to be chairing this important and timely event. The housing crisis is one of the most fundamental challenges we face across the island of Ireland. An affordable, decent-standard, secure home is the most fundamental of all human needs. It is a human right, and governments have a fundamental responsibility to ensure their citizens have a home. 

“Belfast has its own particular set of problems with the legacy of conflict, but there is also a major transformational potential in the Mackie’s site – to address issues of housing need, homelessness and build a new vision for inclusive sustainable communities. Generation Rent are driving demands from political leaders and policy makers for a reshaping of housing policy in the Republic, I understand that there is a growing generational and public call in the North also for housing policy to meet housing needs, rights and sustainability.”

A DfC spokesperson said: "The Minister (Deirdre Hargey) has responded to this invitation and is unfortunately unable to attend due to diary commitments however the Minister is committed to delivering the most radical transformation of the housing system in 50 years where we will deliver more homes where they are needed, for those who need them most.”

Seán Brady from PPR said: "We received the Minister's apology today and the event tomorrow is just the start of a process. 

"At the minute there is a plan to transfer public land with no plan for social housing and we hope to work with the Minister to change those plans to benefit the people of North and West Belfast."

The 'Building a Sustainable Belfast' Online Seminar will take place on Thursday 10-11:30am. To register, click here.