£4m Connswater Project Contract Awarded

A £4m contract to deliver the first phase of the Connswater Community Greenway project has been awarded to Maghera-based BSG Civil Engineering Ltd.

The Connswater Community Greenway project encompasses an area from Belfast Lough to the Castlereagh Hills.

The total project is worth £35m, with the second £23m phase due to begin next Spring.

The rest of the funding will cover public art, land purchase, employment and future management and maintenance of the Greenway.

Belfast City Council said the contractor will be on site to prepare for work before the end of June.

Construction work is expected to be completed by Spring 2014.

Three km of new paths, including two new bridges for pedestrians and cyclists and a third bridge for vehicles, will be constructed, along with landscaping, miscellaneous public realm work and associated lighting and CCTV.

Specific focus will be on Orangefield and Victoria Parks, including the construction of flood walls, flood embankments and river realignment works.

The Lord Mayor, Alderman Gavin Robinson, said: "The Connswater Community Greenway is an integral part of Belfast City Councils £150m investment programme and is going to transform the east of the city – and I am thrilled to make this announcement as one of the last major engagements in my year of office.

"This project is a key example of how major projects can be taken forward in partnership between local and central government and between the private and public sectors, but with the local communities in the driving seat."

Work on the Connswater Community Greenway ceased last year following contractual difficulties with the previous contractors.

Chair of the council's Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, Councillor Deirdre Hargey said: "While progress may appear to have been slow, the fact is council officers and all the other stakeholders have been working extremely hard behind the scenes to get this project back on track.

"I commend all concerned for getting us to this point – I now look forward with great excitement to the completion of this project, which is the biggest and best of its kind ever delivered in Belfast and is one of the major projects of our Investment Programme."

(IT/CD)