“We still have 12 acres of crumbling, rotten buildings”
A Belfast councillor has warned elected representatives at City Hall not to “pat themselves on the back” over the imminent public purchase of the historic Assembly Rooms, stating the job of regenerating 12 acres of dereliction in the city centre had just begun.
At the September meeting of the full Belfast City Council, held this week, elected representatives made the final sign-off on an agreement to purchase the historic Assembly Rooms and associated adjoining lands and buildings from Castlebrooke Investments.
At the meeting, Green Councillor Brian Smyth told the chamber at City Hall: “I welcome the offer to buy the Assembly Rooms and adjacent lands. It is one of the most historic buildings in this city, and a cultural landmark. I am delighted we have reached this point, and it took a while for us to get here collectively.
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“But I will say to every councillor of this city – don’t be patting yourselves on the back, thinking the job is done. We still have 12 acres of crumbling, rotten buildings [beside it].
“We have a duty to work with whoever brings new plans to make sure they are delivered, and sensitively to the area. And so that the people of Belfast feel they have an input, where previously they didn’t.
“Also, this council can no longer be waiting on the promises of developers, for them to string us along and drag things out. Vesting should always remain on the table.” He added: “So, well done, but there is still so much to do. This is only the end of the beginning.”
Alliance Councillor Michael Long, who led the charge for the council to purchase the Assembly Rooms, said: “I think this will really help to transform our city centre, it will also more importantly help us build a shared city. I think it is positive we have support from across all the parties, in terms of trying to get this asset within our reach.”
He said: “I hope it will be a spark to help us recognise and commemorate better the history of our city centre. We need to promote our history, show it to tourists and people who live here.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Beattie, whose party also forwarded a motion to purchase the Assembly Rooms in 2021, told the chamber: “It is an important step, we are on the line, and it is important we get it over the line. That asset should remain in the ownership of this council, it is the council that has driven this.
“It isn’t an asset we are purchasing for anybody else, just to be clear, because there are many groups out there circling, who think they own it. They don’t. It will be owned by this council, and managed by this council, and it will be decided by the members of this council what is in that building.”
The SDLP also warned that the deal does not address the long-running problems across the wider Tribeca site. Speaking after confirmation of the agreement, SDLP Councillor, Carl Whyte said: “We have supported the council’s efforts to acquire the historic Assembly Rooms and take forward its restoration.
“Bringing this landmark building into public ownership secures its future and creates an opportunity not only to restore it but also, at long last, spur some development in this part of the city. It is important to be clear, however, that this does not solve the wider problems of the Tribeca site.
“For years, a 12-acre site in the heart of Belfast has been left to fall into ruin and disrepair. Despite possessing significant powers of vesting, neither the council nor the Communities Minister have taken any steps to take possession of the wider site and either develop it themselves or find someone who will.
“Both the council and the Minister have the power to vest, and the SDLP fully supports using it. What we cannot support is the refusal of other parties to act when it comes to vesting.
“Belfast deserves more than boarded-up streets and wasted opportunities. The time has come to show ambition, use the powers we have, and finally unlock this part of the city for the benefit of everyone.
“In addition, the council currently owns a range of heritage assets – Floral Hall, Bellevue Steps among others – which are in significant need of repair and regeneration.”
Vacant since 2000, Assembly Rooms is a Grade B1 listed heritage building on the corner of North Street and Waring Street, which dates to 1769, and is one of Belfast’s most prominent and architecturally important public buildings.
It is where plans to establish a slave trading company were rejected in 1786, the famous Belfast Harp Festival was held in 1792, and where Henry Joy McCracken was sentenced to death in 1798.
In addition to the Assembly Rooms, adjoining lands and buildings to be purchased by the council include part of the Donegall Street car park, 5-9 North Street (former Laffin Travel building) and Braddell’s Building, a Grade B1 listed building at 11 North Street.
The plot is a small part of the 12 acre Cathedral Quarter site involved in the controversial “Tribeca” development – a planning application approved by Belfast Council in 2020 for a £500m urban regeneration scheme.
The plan, by London company Castlebrooke Investments, is for lands beside St Anne’s Cathedral, bounded by Royal Avenue, Donegall Street, Lower Garfield Street and Rosemary Street.
Works were supposed to include the pedestrianisation of North Street, a new North Street Arcade, a ten storey office block, the reduction of Writer’s Square by over 50 percent, and the introduction of new streets and green spaces. The development was to include residential, business and commercial space, with a series of full demolitions of non-listed buildings planned along Rosemary Street, North Street, Temple Court, St Anne’s Court and Donegall Street.
Five and a half years later, not a shovel has been lifted for the development, and streets that were supposed to be regenerated now have even greater levels of vacancy and dereliction, and remain sad shadows of their former selves.
Local politicians, particularly those from the parties that voted against the development, from the Green Party, the SDLP and People Before Profit, have been very vocal in their criticism of the developer, with some accusing the company of “land-banking” – the practice of acquiring and holding land with the intention of developing it or selling it for profit at a future date when its value has increased.
After much discussion over the lack of progress, in meetings both in public and in private, Belfast Council began proceedings to vest the lands owned by Castlebrooke, that is, to take over the land. In January 2024 the council’s chief executive John Walsh announced the local authority would be looking at acquiring a “huge swathe” of derelict Belfast City Centre property from Castlebrooke Investments.
Vesting or “compulsory purchase” is acquiring land without agreement, and the council can receive power to vest the site from the Stormont Department for Communities. Compulsory purchase powers can support the delivery of a range of development, regeneration and infrastructure projects in the public interest.
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