HOUSING campaigners in North Belfast say Housing Executive plans to demolish the seven tower blocks in the New Lodge are 'unrealistic'.
The Housing Executive Tower Blocks Action Plan addresses the future of the 33 tower blocks in their ownership across the North, which was approved in March 2019.
Oisín House in the New Lodge is part of Phase One of demolition which is due to take place in a one-five-year time-frame.
Fianna House and Finn House are included in Phase Two demolition with a six-ten-year time-frame with repair works to be carried out in the interim.
Cúchulainn House, Eithne House, Grainne House and Maeve House are included in the final Phase Three demolition which has a ten-year time-frame with improvement works to be carried out as required.
However, since 2019 little progress has been made and two further documents have been published by the Housing Executive. In the most recent update, the Housing Executive said some of the New Lodge tower blocks are still at a feasibility stage and others are set to be taken forward after the proposed redevelopment of the nearby Upper Long Streets.
Gerard Brophy from the St Patrick's and St Joseph's Housing Association – who also lives on the sixth floor of Maeve House – said he does not believe the Housing Executive plans are realistic, especially given the long housing waiting lists in North Belfast.
"Since the Housing Executive announced this strategy for demolition of the tower blocks in 2019, everything has gone backwards," he explained.
Frank Dempsey, Liam Wiggins and Gerard Brophy 
"There has been three documents published in 2019, 2022 and 2023 and still nothing has happened. We have said from the start that the seven tower blocks are in bad condition internally.
"There is black mould, dampness, windows falling off the hinges, electrics that need re-done, the heating is old Economy Seven which is the most expensive tariff that people can't afford.
"There are 360 people living in the seven tower blocks. If you were to even demolish one block, where do you put these people? There is already a massive housing waiting list in North Belfast.
"We are realistic. We would love to see the tower blocks come down but they ain't coming down in my lifetime. We are talking at least 20 years.
"We are calling on the Housing Executive to make the tower blocks more liveable until such a time when they are ready to come down.
"The Housing Executive are very good at waving strategies about but whoever thought about demolishing the tower blocks has not thought it through whatsoever."
Liam Wiggins, from the New Lodge Housing Forum, is calling on the Housing Executive to be realistic and come and speak to residents and campaigners about their demolition plans.
"This area of North Belfast has the biggest waiting list in the whole of the North. There are no sites and nowhere to put people," he added. "There was a tower block in Rathcoole demolished earlier this year but there was space to build and somewhere for the residents to go. That is not going to happen in the New Lodge.
"The Housing Executive need to come out and say all these strategies are unrealistic.
"We would request a meeting with the Housing Executive urgently, come and speak to us and have a proper conversation about the plans."
A spokesperson for the Housing Executive said: “The current proposal for Oisín, Finn and Fianna is that they will be demolished, with the combined cleared sites developed for new social housing.
“We have delayed bringing forward the demolition proposal for Oisiín to take account of the clearance needs from the proposed Redevelopment Area for the Upper Long Streets. Timescales for action at Finn and Fianna will be impacted by our decision to delay the clearing of Oisín.
“The other four blocks have been designated as phase three and will be refurbished, commencing in 2024 at the earliest.
“The Housing Executive has not commenced work towards business cases for any of blocks within the New Lodge. However, once that begins residents and owners will be consulted during the preparation of these business cases to advise them of the next steps in relation to implementing the proposals for the block in which their home or property is included, and, where appropriate, to discuss and confirm their rehousing preferences.”
