Members of a heritage trust renovating a storied Belfast warehouse were “shocked” proposed funding was pulled from the project at a single meeting following detailed discussions over close to two years.
Hearth Historic Buildings Trust, in the middle of transforming Riddel’s Warehouse into an event and work space, was provisionally awarded close to £225,000 under the Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund.
Members of a working group made up of south Belfast councillors recommended the funding, earmarking also £800,000 for the autistic children’s charity, Solas.
However, at a closed door Belfast City Council committee meeting in December, Sinn Fein and DUP joined forces to reallocate the money, with the bulk of the funds going to four organisations, £650,000 to the Markets Development Association, the same amount to the the Greater Village Regeneration Trust, and £300,000 each to the Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group (LORAG) and Fitzroy Presbyterian Church.
Solas was left with approximately £24,000 and Hearth with nothing. Belfast’s deputy lord mayor, Green Party councillor Áine Groogan, described those proposals as one of the worst political “carve-ups” she has witnessed on the council.
Joan Henderson from Sólás said they were “absolutely astounded” by the initial proposal. She said it was “an insult and an affront to children and young people with disabilities and their families”.
At the full council meeting on Monday, much of it again behind closed doors, the decision was partially reversed, with funding for Solas increased to just over £300,000. But Hearth will still receive nothing.
“We are very disappointed that Belfast City Council has made what seems to be an arbitrary decision overturning the original recommendation which was based on a detailed assessment of all the applications,” said Mari McKee, the trust’s development officer on behalf of its committee.
“Detailed business cases were provided as part of the application on which the local councillors made recommendations and we are shocked that these recommendations can be so easily dismissed at one meeting. Up to that point we had felt it was a fair and transparent assessment process.”
Ms McKee added: “This type of match funding is vital to progress plans to restore the historic Riddel’s Warehouse as a centre for those working in the creative industries and contribute to the desperately needed regeneration of Belfast’s city centre.
“Our project to restore Riddel’s Warehouse is already being generously supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund which requires match funding to unlock that substantial investment so that any contribution from the Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund would have brought in roughly three times as much of external funding to the city..”
Council party leaders, Ciaran Beattie of Sinn Fein and Sarah Bunting of the DUP, did not respond to requests for comment for the reasoning behind the decision making.