To ask the Minister for Communities for an update on the delivery of the proposals in the Shaftesbury Square Development Framework.

The Shaftesbury Square Development Framework was published by my Department in September 2017 to set out a shared vision the area’s physical development potential.

Following extensive consultation, consultants appointed by the Department, produced a report that set out a number of recommendations to ensure people want to live, work and socialise in this area of south Belfast, including:

Restructuring the public realm within Shaftesbury Square where public transport is attractively accommodated and where, pedestrians and cyclists have a safe and pleasant environment to move around.

The restoration of a major civic space.

The refurbishment of facades at Shaftesbury Square.

The development of a number of catalyst sites to enhance the area physically, economically and functionally.

The creation of an appropriate residential environment that attracts people to live within ‘the square’.

Following its publication, the Department formed the Shaftesbury Square Stakeholders Group with the aim of pursuing the objectives set out in the Shaftesbury Square Development Framework.

The Shaftesbury Square Stakeholders Group is made up of a wide range of statutory agencies and the community based Forward South Partnership who meet regularly as part of a collective approach to discuss issues and take forward actions.

Good progress has been made in understanding and co-ordinating the ‘live’ strategic projects in the area including:

My Department’s Belfast Streets Ahead 5 scheme;

Department for Infrastructure’s Belfast Rapid Transit II;

Translink’s new Weaver’s Cross travel hub;

The Executive Office’s Urban Villages initiative,

Belfast City Council’s A Bolder Vision for Belfast, produced jointly by my Department, Belfast City Council and the Department for Infrastructure; &

The Linen Quarter Business Improvement District.