WORK has begun this week to remove interface barriers at houses in the New Lodge.
A brick wall with three levels of mesh fencing above, which runs in front of houses on North Queen Street between Spamount Street and Duncairn Gardens, will all be removed. The removal has been approved by local residents with the support of the Housing Executive, Duncairn Community Partnership and International Fund for Ireland (IFI).
Kate Clarke of Duncairn Community Partnership (DCP) said she hopes it will make a big difference to the local residents.
“We have been working with residents for years on this issue. Most residents there cannot use their front doors,” she explained.
“The peace wall and fence will be removed thanks to our work with the Housing Executive and IFI.
“Residents will have their own gates and use their own paths. They will have their own front doors and gates. They will have their own gardens too which will be extended.
“It will make a tremendous difference to the residents. They will be getting back a bit of normality in their lives.
Today we still are dealing with agencies to resolve issues in this area and much remains to be done. This area of the New Lodge around North Queens Street and The Duncairn Gardens will soon see a big improvement and along with other measures, which the community are working on, we hope to see that long awaited improvement in long suffering residents’ quality of life.
“The residents truly deserve this. They have put up with a lot over the years and fair play to them for having the courage to go ahead with this despite the anti-social behaviour in North Queen Street.”
Local Sinn Féin councillor JJ Magee also welcomed the interface barrier removal.
“It is great to see the start of the work today to remove these interface barriers around homes in the New Lodge,” he added. “This has been a piece of work that has taken significant efforts involving residents, interface workers, statutory agencies and political representatives over many years.
“The single most important thing is that residents remain safe and the replacement of this old style physical infrastructure protecting homes with modern and more welcoming measures will vastly improve people’s quality of life.
“Extensive consultations were carried out and there was a clear need to build residents’ confidence to take this important step forward. It was a considerable job to have these barriers installed at the time some 20 years ago when the interface problems were at their height including homes being attacked with pipe bombs.
“Today we still are dealing with agencies to resolve issues in this area and much remains to be done. This area of the New Lodge around North Queens Street and The Duncairn Gardens will soon see a big improvement and along with other measures, which the community are working on, we hope to see that long awaited improvement in long suffering residents’ quality of life.
"Well done to everyone that took part in this project and particularly to the local residents who have shown the confidence to make this difficult step forward.”
