'Long overdue' plan for adventure park at former dump moving forward

Plans to redevelop a former Belfast dump into an adventure park and nature sanctuary are moving forward 17 years after first being proposed.

Residents near the former landfill site, on Dargan Road in north Belfast, have welcomed the move as long overdue.

An agreement has been signed by the city council and the developer, Giant's Park Belfast Ltd, for the project which is part of a wider regeneration of the area.

New uses for the 250-acre site on the north foreshore of Belfast Lough have been planned since the landfill site closed in 2007.

A film studio is already operating on a small portion of the site.

The proposed park will cover about 160 acres with construction potentially beginning later this year, subject to planning permission.

Belfast Lord Mayor Micky Murray said: "The Giant's Park announcement is a huge boost for Belfast given the scale of the investment involved and the number of jobs that will be created, both during construction and upon completion.

"The project also represents a major boost to our tourism industry, which is now contributing greater economic benefit to the city than in pre-Covid times."

Giant's Park Belfast Ltd is controlled by the developer Kevin McKay who said the scheme will balance the adventure park with "the careful management of the surrounding ecological environment".

He added it would mean public access to that part of the coast for the first time in more than 60 years.

The remaining 90 acres of the site is expected to be developed for distribution and logistics hubs and other commercial uses.

On the nearby Shore Road, a number of residents said they thought plans for the adventure park had long been forgotten.

They welcomed the move, saying the area needed new facilities for young people.

"The last big thing built in this area was the Grove Leisure Centre, and that was about 20 years ago," said Gina Crozier, who lives on the Shore Road with her family.

"There's nothing around here, particularly for the young ones," she said.

"But it'll be great when it’s built."

Leanne Armstrong, who has a son with special needs, said she believed there was little provision for young people like him in the nearby area.

"Most of the facilities I take my son to are in south Belfast or other parts of the city" she said.

Claire Cunningham said she development would "be great because it's such an expansive space".

"It's wasted that it's not being used as a public space," she added.

However both Ms Crozier and Gena McNeice said they were worried about taking children there on foot.

The Shore Road is separated from the area by the M2 motorway - the pedestrian route is by crossing the entrance to a motorway slip road.

Ms Crozier said improved access for local people would be needed.

It is understood that charges will apply to areas which need to be maintained, but that there will be parts of the development that are free.