Major regeneration of Belfast’s Giant’s Park moves a step closer

PLANS for a long-awaited revamp of Giant’s Park in north Belfast are moving forward.

The proposals include a hotel, fast food outlets and a petrol station, with indoor and outdoor leisure facilities to come later.

These will in turn be followed by a welcome hub that will include sports and leisure retail and a community space surrounding two civic plazas. There will also be a “world-class golf entertainment facility”.

The largest part of the site, which is around 200 acres, will become an adventure park.

There are additional plans for an equestrian centre, followed by a research and development park with around 400,000 sq ft of space for businesses.

The project, on the north foreshore of Belfast Lough, off Dargan Road, is being overseen by

Giant’s Park Belfast Ltd, which has submitted a proposal of application of notice ahead of a full planning application.

Work to develop additional film and television studios is already under way.

When complete, the Belfast Harbour Studios project will include studios, sound stages, workshops, offices and a vendors’ village, as well as car parking and landscaping.

It was given the green light by Belfast City Council’s planning committee last summer.

The investment is worth around £45m and will help sustain 200 construction jobs.

Plans to develop Giant’s Park came to the fore in 2015.

At that point, the proposals included a 30-acre ‘clean tech’ hub that developers hoped would create up to 400 jobs.

That site has yet to be developed or attract a major investor.

‘There will also be a world class golf facility’