Council officials say rising costs of outside contractors are to blame
Belfast Council has said a delay in putting alleygates up in the north of the city has arisen due to a cash shortage because of rising costs from outside contractors.
At the August meeting of the council’s People and Communities Committee, council officers revealed that the council had 115 alleygates in its possession but was short of the £60,000 required to install the gates.
An officer failed to give exact details of the increase in costings, but said they would be writing to Stormont for financial help to get the gates in place.
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The matter was raised when DUP Councillor for Oldpark Jordan Doran appeared at the committee to speak for “constituents who are growing increasingly frustrated at the length of time it is taking to install alleygates at various entries, particularly in light of rising antisocial behaviour in some areas during the summer months”.
The alleygates in question are part of the Alleygates Project Phase 5a. 53 gates are going up in this phase – initial work began February 10, and was expected to be completed by the Spring.
The alleygating scheme, which secures residential alleys across the city, has been a success overall, and promises to be an ongoing project well into the future, with a long waiting lists of communities wanting the gates. However the erection of agreed gates has seen some delays over the years.
In June 2024 Belfast councillors complained at City Hall about the pace of the alley gates scheme across the city, with some waiting for almost two years for gates after short listing.
Councillor Doran asked at the recent People and Communities Committee meeting for an update on the erection of alleygates.
He said: “There are areas across North Belfast that are facing great levels of antisocial behaviour, that is well-documented.” He did not name specific streets where the gates are delayed.
A council officer replied: “The contract had run out to do alley gating, and we went out and procured a new contract, in reference to it. There has been an uplift in the amount of money that it has cost, compared to the amount of money that we have.
“We have purchased 115 gates. The reserve we will need is an additional £60,000 for the installation. So we are going to the (Stormont) Department of Finance to see if we can get that money.
“When we get it hopefully we can begin the installation. In April and May, residents were contacted and told about it. The gates are purchased and are there. We will bring an update report maybe next month.”
SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said at the committee: “We are seeing increasing costs for procuring work outside this council, instead of looking at this type of manual work being done inhouse. I know smaller councils are able to have their own staff carry out this type of engineering work.
“We need to see some kind of (document) coming back on this, in relation to City and Neighbourhood Services, because it is becoming too much of a cost and burden over time.”
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