11 March 1999 Edition
MBW withdraws funding from Foundry Trust
by Dan O'Neill
Sinn Fein councillor Tom Hartley has described as `political', the decision by Making Belfast Work (MBW) to withdraw funding from The Foundry Regeneration Trust at the end of this month.
The Trust, established in 1993 to carry out local community consultation in relation to the Springvale Development Scheme, received a letter from MBW two days before Christmas stating that the Springvale scheme was complete and the role of the Trust finished.
Hartley contesting the contents of the letter from MBW told AP/RN, ``I am challenging this assertion in all it's hypocrisy. One has only to look at the Springfield Road and the surrounding area to see that the Springvale scheme is nowhere near completion.''
The Sinn Fein councillor continued, ``this decision was a purely political one in the interests of civil servant's strategic plans as opposed to the the residents needs. It is also interesting that when the Foundry Regeneration Trust applied to carry out a community evaluation of the impact of the Springvale scheme on the residents of West Belfast they were informed by George Mackey of MBW that he would not fund it as he he did not consider it to be appropriate at the time.'
The community evaluation will be carried out in the coming weeks and the Foundry Trust believe it will prove that the Springvale scheme has not had the promised impact on residents of the area in terms of employment, quality of life and in meeting housing needs.
The Trust has been at the fore in developing the community response to the campus since 1993. A spokesperson for the Trust, Una Gillespie, condemned the decision, saying, ``Mowlam laid down four principles for the development of the campus, one of them being the the direct and continued involvement of the community at all stages of the campus's development. MBW's decision flies in the face of this, by closing down the very mechanism for that consultation. There is a huge amount of work to be done on this and the Trust has an agreement with the West Belfast Partnership Board to represent and the facilitate all of that work to the appropriate bodies.This is in danger of being lost to the community.''
Gillespie added, ``only last week Mowlam was emphasising the amount of work that the Trust would need to carry out on this element of Springvale yet this week George Mackey tells us he has actively intervened to ensure that representation is done through the partnership Boards as opposed to the Trust.''
Meanwhile Una Gillespie of the Trust has condemned as sectarian, the motives of senior Ulster University figures who plan to pull the plug on the Springvale Educational Village, one of the main areas of work involving the Trust.
A University source quoted in last weeks North Belfast News, claimed that the Springvale project may be scrapped by forces traditionally hostile to the campus on the grounds that it is too costly.
``There has always been an unreconstructed unionist rump within the University ruling council opposed to spending money in North and West Belfast, but they are now winning new friends in Mo Mowlam,'' said the university source.
Mowlam gave the green light to the campus last August in a way which was seen as a sop to republicans. But she never pledged one extra penny of money to fund the project. The feeling is that the university should review Springvale and its costs at a time when it is becoming a political football.''
Ms Gillespie, said that while plans for the Village may not be perfect at the moment it would be ``absolutely ridiculous'' to throw out the project with such potential for North and West Belfast.
``This same faction has always been opposed to the notion of the campus going to West Belfast for no other reason than sectarianism and discrimination. These are people of the past who will soon have to accept that things economically, politically and socially are moving ahead without them'', she concluded.
Sinn Fein councillor Tom Hartley has described as `political', the decision by Making Belfast Work (MBW) to withdraw funding from The Foundry Regeneration Trust at the end of this month.
The Trust, established in 1993 to carry out local community consultation in relation to the Springvale Development Scheme, received a letter from MBW two days before Christmas stating that the Springvale scheme was complete and the role of the Trust finished.
Hartley contesting the contents of the letter from MBW told AP/RN, ``I am challenging this assertion in all it's hypocrisy. One has only to look at the Springfield Road and the surrounding area to see that the Springvale scheme is nowhere near completion.''
The Sinn Fein councillor continued, ``this decision was a purely political one in the interests of civil servant's strategic plans as opposed to the the residents needs. It is also interesting that when the Foundry Regeneration Trust applied to carry out a community evaluation of the impact of the Springvale scheme on the residents of West Belfast they were informed by George Mackey of MBW that he would not fund it as he he did not consider it to be appropriate at the time.'
The community evaluation will be carried out in the coming weeks and the Foundry Trust believe it will prove that the Springvale scheme has not had the promised impact on residents of the area in terms of employment, quality of life and in meeting housing needs.
The Trust has been at the fore in developing the community response to the campus since 1993. A spokesperson for the Trust, Una Gillespie, condemned the decision, saying, ``Mowlam laid down four principles for the development of the campus, one of them being the the direct and continued involvement of the community at all stages of the campus's development. MBW's decision flies in the face of this, by closing down the very mechanism for that consultation. There is a huge amount of work to be done on this and the Trust has an agreement with the West Belfast Partnership Board to represent and the facilitate all of that work to the appropriate bodies.This is in danger of being lost to the community.''
Gillespie added, ``only last week Mowlam was emphasising the amount of work that the Trust would need to carry out on this element of Springvale yet this week George Mackey tells us he has actively intervened to ensure that representation is done through the partnership Boards as opposed to the Trust.''
Meanwhile Una Gillespie of the Trust has condemned as sectarian, the motives of senior Ulster University figures who plan to pull the plug on the Springvale Educational Village, one of the main areas of work involving the Trust.
A University source quoted in last weeks North Belfast News, claimed that the Springvale project may be scrapped by forces traditionally hostile to the campus on the grounds that it is too costly.
``There has always been an unreconstructed unionist rump within the University ruling council opposed to spending money in North and West Belfast, but they are now winning new friends in Mo Mowlam,'' said the university source.
Mowlam gave the green light to the campus last August in a way which was seen as a sop to republicans. But she never pledged one extra penny of money to fund the project. The feeling is that the university should review Springvale and its costs at a time when it is becoming a political football.''
Ms Gillespie, said that while plans for the Village may not be perfect at the moment it would be ``absolutely ridiculous'' to throw out the project with such potential for North and West Belfast.
``This same faction has always been opposed to the notion of the campus going to West Belfast for no other reason than sectarianism and discrimination. These are people of the past who will soon have to accept that things economically, politically and socially are moving ahead without them'', she concluded.