A BUSINESS body based in Belfast’s Linen Quarter is planning to extend its services to the Shaftesbury Square and Gasworks area of the city.
Linen Quarter Business Improvement District (LQ BID) has included both areas in a new five-year business plan.
The organisation said it has delivered £4 million worth of improvements in the south city centre area of Belfast since 2018. It includes small regeneration schemes and improvements to the public realm, but it also includes funding cleaning teams and a dedicated PSNI officer to patrol the area.
Its latest project includes FLAXX, the new social space created following the partial pedestrianisation of Brunswick Street.
LQ BID is largely funded by a levy paid by hundreds of business and organisarions in the district.
It’s now seeking the backing of those businesses for second five-year term from January 2023, which could see it extend its services into the busy Shaftesbury Square thoroughfare and the expanding Gasworks site.
Managing director, Chris McCracken said: “The extension of LQ BID’s remit will allow us to deliver more across a greater stretch of the city including new social spaces, enhanced seating, enhanced planting, murals and parklets – all of which drives footfall and support the longevity of our businesses, many of whom are still recovering from the onslaught of the pandemic.”
