Renewed hope for residents of Holyland as plan is put in place to tackle anti-social behaviour
A PLAN has been put in place to address anti-social behaviour in the Holyland area of Belfast over the Halloween period following ‘five weeks of mayhem’ there.
Brid Ruddy, who chairs College Park Avenue Residents’ Association, said the multi-agency meeting at Belfast City Hall exceeded her expectations.
Ms Ruddy believes there is a real intent to address the problems.
“We’ve been talking about this for 20 years,” she said. “Statutory agencies have turned a blind eye, resulting in complete lawlessness. I think many people thought it was too big a problem to sort out.
“We’ve now had a full and frank discussion accepting the limitations and I believe there is a sincere desire to tackle this.
“There has been five weeks of mayhem in the Holyland and Halloween was looking like more mayhem.”
Belfast City Council and the PSNI have now arranged to conduct joint patrols in the area through to the early hours of the morning over the Halloween period.
It comes ahead of a ‘Purge Day’ rave at Ormeau Road’s Hatfield House bar starting from 3pm on October 30 and going on until 1am on Halloween.
A representative of Hatfield House said the venue has run these events for a number of years without issue.
“The theory behind them is that it keeps the kids or students off the streets in a bar. Last year we were commended by the PSNI and council for the day raves that we ran,” they said.
“Nobody has come to us with concerns this year.
“Instead of having a 10-hour rave like what was planned, we’ve turned it into a daytime event which usually finishes at around 6pm.”
Alliance Party MLA Paula Bradshaw, who attended the meeting, said: “I sincerely hope that these additional resources will be enough to address the high levels of anti-social behaviour that is taking place night after night. Everyone in the room was certainly united in feeling exasperated that, after all these years, the anti-social behaviour has not been addressed — and in reality it has got worse — and so there was a commitment to continuing to meet over the next couple of months to develop a focused, longer-term approach.
“Of course the statutory agencies can only do so much. I would call on the young people living in the area to respect their neighbours and behave responsibly at all times.”
Ms Ruddy said the meeting was a frank discussion which ultimately looked at regeneration of the Holyland area in coming years.
She added: “The council is undertaking to look at regeneration of the Holyland with an aim to rebalance the area and reduce the amount of HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation). People with no stake in the community are making up 90% of those living there and that needs to change.
“They also realise their plan for anti-social behaviour needs to be addressed. This is the first time I feel like they are willing to do something.”
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Council continues to work in partnership with the PSNI, universities and colleges, and other statutory agencies to address anti-social behaviour in the Holylands.
“Council resources in the area are increased at key times in the academic calendar, for example Freshers’ Week and Halloween.
“Our community safety team engages with residents and students to help address problems such as on-street drinking and noise.
“Council officers engage regularly with residents and host public meetings to allow residents to raise concerns and highlight issues.
“Some of these issues are considered to be criminal damage and it is the role of the PSNI to investigate this.”