Homeless Families Wish Ministers Peaceful Christmas
Housing activists have today presented the Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons; Economy Minister, Conor Murphy; and officials at Belfast City Council, Invest NI, and NIHE, with the results of the public consultation and petition on their masterplan for Mackie’s, the largest publicly owned, vacant site in the city of Belfast.
The group of homeless families brought the gifts and wishes for a peaceful Christmas to Ministers and officials in charge of the empty Mackie’s site, in west Belfast. The families, who are all part of the Take Back the City coalition, have helped bring to life ambitious plans for over 500 homes and thousands of square meters of business space for the site, which could single-handedly play a significant role in reducing homelessness in the city. Their plans represent the first time that a community has begun a planning process of this scale for a piece of land that they do not own in Ireland or the UK.
Over the course of the last year, Take Back the City has been consulting widely with local residents, groups, organisations and elected representatives and officials as part of a Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) process for their masterplan, designed by Matthew Lloyd Architects.
Marissa McMahon, Assistant Director at PPR, which supports the Take Back the City coalition said: “We’ve been holding events, knocking on doors and hearing from people from all across Belfast and beyond. We’re delighted by the level of support the plans have attracted and we want to thank everyone who took part.
“Our families are delivering this information to the landowners at Mackie’s, most especially to the Minister for Communities and the Minister for Economy, who have refused to meet with or engage with them, despite these plans representing a win for both their departments.”
Since March, the Teke Back the City coalition has worked tirelessly to inform people in the local area about the plans, and the campaign to build homes on Mackie’s. Leaflets were distributed to around 2800 households around the site, as well as 53 local organisations including the Shankill Women’s Centre, Clonard Youth Group, and Springboard. During that time, 2500 people visited the plans online at takebackthecity.ie and almost 800 people signed a petition in support of the Take Back the City Masterplan.
In September, Take Back the City held a public consultation at Forthspring Inter Community Group, inviting everyone to come and share their views. The results from more than 100 people who filled out the consultation survey, were overwhelmingly positive. 91% of respondents agreed that the Mackie’s site should be developed, with 75% agreeing that the Take Back the City proposal is exactly what is needed for the site. Housing need was a big motivator for those who supported the plans, with 86% of people agreeing that the site should be used to address housing need, and more than half of those who agreed with the plans stating that housing need was their main reason.
Earlier this year, the Minister for Communities, the DUP’s Gordon Lyons, who is responsible for housing, indicated that he had not assessed the Take Back the City Masterplan, in response to a Northern Ireland Assembly Question. He also declined to attend the public consultation on the plans held in September 2024. The Minister for Economy, Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy refused twice to meet with homeless families about the plans, despite their significant potential for developing West Belfast’s economy.
There are more than 86,000 people on the housing waiting list, and more than 5,000 children living in homeless households in Belfast alone. The area around the Mackie’s site is one of the areas of greatest housing need in the north, and those who own the land, such as the Department for Communities and Invest NI, are those who are themselves responsible for housing and economic development.
The recent public consultation is not the first time Take Back the City has worked with the local community to gauge support for housing. The masterplan itself, created by experts, has been directly informed by years of work on the part of homeless families and other activists.
In 2019, local homeless families identified the Mackie’s site as part of a photomapping campaign across Belfast. Later that year, homeless children worked with PPR and the StreetSpace project to identify a set of principles against which any development of the Mackie’s site should take place.
In 2021, Take Back the City carried out a detailed survey amongst local community groups and stakeholders on attitudes to the idea of housing on Mackie’s. These ideas then informed the City of the Future design competition in 2022, which received over 70 expressions of interest from architects all over the world. The 11 shortlisted designs were then voted on by the public online and at a weekend-long exhibition at The MAC. In 2023, the competition winners, Matthew Lloyd Architects presented the plans to community members and began the next stage of the campaign for homes on Mackie’s.
To view the Take Back the City Masterplan and copy of the consultation report, please visit www.takebackthecity.ie