HomeConnswater Community Greenway
The Connswater Community Greenway (CCG) is an exciting project to create a 9km linear park through east Belfast. It will reconnect the existing Connswater, Knock and Loop Rivers and create new leisure and recreation areas for the 40,000 people who live nearby.
The scheme, which has been developed by the East Belfast Partnership and funded by the council, the Big Lottery Fund and the Department for Social Development, represents a £32 million investment in the local area.
It is hoped that the Greenway will act as a catalyst for wider investment in east Belfast and encourage residents to make better use of their local open spaces. At present, much of the parkland along the site is under used, because it is widely considered to be inaccessible, unsafe and unattractive.
We’re investing £4.2 million in the project, as part of our Investment Programme
Construction work is expected to begin in late spring or early summer 2013, with work completed by the end of 2015.
Benefits
The Connswater Community Greenway will have many physical benefits for the local area, including:- a 9km linear park, complete with special 'wildlife corridor'
- 16km of new walking and cycling routes
- 30 new or improved bridges
- 5km of restored water courses
- six tourism and heritage trails
- several landmark public art pieces
- a civic square, located near the Holywood Arches.
Location
The Greenway will follow the course of the Loop, Knock and Connswater rivers. It will include the following open spaces, as well as the Cregagh Glen area:- Orangefield Park
- King George V Playing Fields
- Victoria Park
- Dixon Playing Fields
- Elmgrove Hollow
- Flora Street Walkway
- Connswater Shopping Centre
- Holywood Arches.
East Belfast Flood Alleviation Scheme
The £11 million scheme has been developed by the Rivers Agency in response to ongoing flooding near the Knock, Loop and Connswater River courses.Work has now been completed on the culvert at Red Sky on Castlereagh Road.
At Dixon Playing Fields and Orangefield Park sections, we have allocated new areas for community events and are working with the project contractors to help protect the local environment, including wildlife such as kingfishers and badgers.
We’re also moving the river course in this area slightly, near to Orangefield Lane. This will help protect houses in the area from flooding. Although this will mean removing some of the trees in the area, we'll be planting new trees to replace them.
Other work includes providing new local sandbag stores and setting up a flood storage area.
More information
To find out more about the Connswater Community Greenway project, visit www.communitygreenway.co.ukFor the latest Connswater Community Greenway news and information, like Connswater Community Greenway on Facebook or follow @connswatercg on Twitter
