West Belfast Sinn Féin Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Maskey: ''Consult us, don't insult us'' challenge to Margaret Ritchie

Published: 1 September, 2008

Consult us don't insult us

"Consult us don't insult us", is the message of west Belfast residents to Social Development minister Margaret Ritchie after further SDLP mismanagement was exposed regarding the future of the former Andersonstown barracks site.

The plan to curtail community involvement in the decision making process was exposed by Sinn Fein.

The DSD minister had promised to "think carefully" before making any further decisions on the barracks site and to "contact the local community in the immediate future".

But months had passed without any attempt at a proper engagement by the DSD with local residents, and then news of another DSD decision began to surface.

West Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Paul Maskey pointed out that gifting the site to the local community would allow the full value of the land to be realised for the benefit of local people.

"Gerry Adams called on Margaret Ritchie to gift-aid the land to the local community last year as DSD Minister Margaret Ritchie has the authority to restore the site to the community.

"After the collapse of the DSD initial proposal Sinn Fein called on Margaret Ritchie to support a community based consultation process about the future use of the former barracks site to be carried out by the West Belfast Partnership Board, a body funded by her own department.

"Sinn Fein further proposed that the DSD provide technical assistance to enable the Partnership Board to carry out that work. There was no response from Margaret Ritchie," said Mr Maskey.

Then in July, documents released by the DSD announced that development of the barracks site was to be subsumed within the wider Andersonstown Gateway Project, a new project to generate ideas for commercial development.

"The last DSD proposal collapsed in the face of public opinion. Having already been badly stung, it might be reasonable to expect that Margaret Ritchie might be reluctant to make the same mistake twice. But apparently not," said Maskey.

"Despite a very vocal public campaign by local people calling for the barracks site to be developed as a much needed community resource, the DSD are still not listening," said Maskey.

A few weeks ago, instead of appointing the local partnership board to carry out the consultation process, the DSD announced they had commissioned Deloitte Touche, a private consultancy.

Worse still the terms of reference drawn up by the department to instruct Deloitte reduced the consultation process to an exercise in public relations.

"Instead of empowering local people to participate in developing an important site within their own community, Margaret Ritchie seems intent upon commissioning the appearance of public consultation rather then offering any real engagement with local people," said Maskey.

The terms of reference set by DSD outlining the kind of consultation process the department is seeking, instructs Deloitte that "engagement of the community will focus people's attention on options… and will not present them with a blank canvass."

It will be the private consultant's job to persuade residents that "any decision to redevelop the site…will be justifiable by the results of the feasibility study". That feasibility study is a separate piece of work and is about the creation of a "commercial hub" in the lower Andersonstown area.

In other words local people can say what they like, Margaret Ritchie has already decided. The only thing left for the DSD to do is to create a framework within which local people will be shepherded towards accepting it.

"Why is Margaret Ritchie apparently so dead set against working with local people. Why does the SDLP seem so determined to deny community development in the lower Andersonstown area?" asks Maskey.