LAGANSIDE WALKWAY WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE IF YOU WALK FROM QUEEN’S BRIDGE TO ALBERT BRIDGE
I was on the Pottingers Quay side of the Lagan and was a bit surprised that all the bushes and trees had been removed in what someone, on Twitter, described as in a “brutal manner”.
According to local media the Department for Infrastructure has removed a number of trees along the River Lagan as part of work on the Belfast Tidal Flood Alleviation Scheme and has said that more are likely to be chopped down.
The principal aim of the Belfast Tidal Flood Alleviation Scheme is to deliver a scheme of works that will provide a long term approach to tidal flood risk management for Belfast. The study area is from Belfast Lough to Stranmillis Weir, which is the extent of tidal influence on the River Lagan.
A SECTION OF THE LAGAN TOWPATH BELFAST CITY – MAY 2015
When I use the Lagan Towpath I find many of the cyclists to be over aggressive towards pedestrians and I did read in a local newspaper and online that this is/was a known issue.
In May 2015 I started at Stranmillis in Belfast and walked to the Odyssey complex, where the River Lagan enters Belfast Lough. Near the exit to the Gasworks a young man tried to steal my camera but fortunately he was not successful.
I should mention that over a period of of ten years visiting Belfast this is the only such incident that I have encountered. Shortly afterwards two police officers approached me to enquire if I had seen someone matching the identity of the person in question. Apparently he would offer to take photographs using the tourist’s camera or phone and then run away with the camera. Their advise was that, in general, the Lagan Towpath was very safe but that one needed to be alert as is always the case.
There is no doubting the fact that low-level anti-social activity is an ongoing problem in Belfast and that is a great pity because there are some really excellent public facilities provided by Belfast City Council.
Every time I am in Belfast I take a walk along the Lagan Towpath because I really like it. However it does appear to suffer from a high level of anti-social activity and often the street furniture and public art installations [especially ‘Weights 2000’ by Mike Hogg] show signs of unnecessary and unsightly damage and destruction.
But to be fair, when I visited in May 2017, there was much less evidence of damage due to vandalism and the Mike Hogg installation and been repaired. In May 2018 I could not decided if the installation had been relocated to make way for a new building but the installation was in reasonable condition.
When I visited in March 2019 the installation was well located but two of the elements were damaged and all had attracted the attention of taggers.
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