Consultation Information – April 2016

THE GAA – A STADIUM FOR EVERYONE

A new and modern Provincial Stadium at Casement Park

With 250,000 members throughout Ulster the GAA is a proud community organisation, embedded in communities and open to all

Many GAA members and supporters hold special memories of games at Casement Park which have been held at the stadium since 1953 and as we look to a new era and a new modern stadium, we are excited at the prospect of Casement also becoming the home of Ulster GAA.

This will be a facility the GAA community in Belfast, County Antrim, Ulster and throughout Ireland will be immensely proud of and a stadium that the next generation of young people will aspire to play in. That’s why in March the Ulster GAA announced it was preparing a new planning application for the redevelopment of the Casement Park site.

The new application will proceed after an extensive consultation which will assess the views of stakeholders in the vicinity, across West Belfast and further afield. Your input is welcomed as part of this process.

THE CONSULTATION

The Community Consultation exercise will welcome the views of all stakeholders such as community groups, local residents, local businesses, schools, sports organisations and members of the public.

Our aim during the consultation period is to obtain feedback on issues of importance from all stakeholders. To canvas opinion and encourage continued participation, the Ulster GAA will host a series of events and workshops that will run over a period of more than twenty weeks. We will share our vision for the redeveloped Casement Park and work with stakeholders to maximise benefits while minimising the effects of the development.

The Community Consultation exercise aims to gather the views of all stakeholders such as community groups, local residents, local business, schools, sports organisations and members of the public. The consultation is based on a programme of continuous engagement with the local community over a period of at least 20 weeks. Public events within that engagement process will be held in 2 stages that relate to critical phases in the scheme development:

  • Stage 1: Initial contact with the local community to establish the stakeholder database, providing an introduction to the project and outlining the matters on which the views of the local community are sought to inform the design development. The information provided to the community will describe the key aims and objectives of the proposal, explain the preliminary work carried out to date and what the potential impacts of the proposal might be and how the consultation exercise fits into the planning and EIA process.
  • Stage 2: Further public consultation events in phase 2 of the project development when the proposals and the EIA process are further advanced. The information provided to the community will include the proposed stadium design, and will demonstrate how evolution of the scheme has taken account of representations made by the community & other stakeholders, and been developed through the EIA process.

CONSULTATION & PROJECT TIMEFRAME

Milestone 1

Pre-Application Notification of intention to submit a planning application delivered to Belfast City Council on Thursday 28 April

Milestone 2

Pre-Application Community Consultation (PACC) Unmanned Display Material & Feedback Forms available at 5 locations
Conway Mill, Andersonstown Leisure Centre, Colin Glen Forest Park Centre, The O’Neills Shop in The Kennedy Centre and An Chulturlann
from Friday 29 April (for 6 weeks).

Milestone 3

Stage 1 PACC Manned Display & Community Consultation Public Events at three locations on three dates:
Conway Mill Tuesday 24 May, Glen Community Complex Wednesday 25 May & Andersonstown Leisure Centre Thursday 26 May.

Milestone 4

Stage 2 PACC has now commenced and involves further engagement with the local community, providing an introduction to the project, explaining the findings of the EIA and the scheme design. The dates & venues of the Stage 2 public events are:

  • Monday 24th October 2016 – Conway Mill, 5-7 Conway Street, Belfast BT13 2DE, 1pm to 8pm
  • Tuesday 25th October 2016 – Lagan Valley Island, Civic Centre, Lisburn, BT27 4RL, 1pm to 8pm
  • Wednesday 26th October 2016 – Glenn Community Complex, 41 Suffolk Road, Belfast, BT11 9PE, 1pm to 8pm
  • Thursday 27th October 2016 – Andersonstown Leisure Centre,130 Andersonstown Road, Belfast, BT11 9BY, 1pm to 8pm

As part of Milestone 4, a public display, information leaflets and feedback forms will also be available at the above locations & at the venues listed below:

  • Colin Glen Forest Park Centre, 163 Stewartstown Road, Dunmurry BT17 OHW
  • The O’Neills Shop, The Kennedy Centre, 564 -568 Falls Road, Belfast, BT11 9AE
  • An Cúlturlann, 216 Falls Rd, Belfast BT12 6AH
  • Conway Mill, 5-7 Conway Street, Belfast, BT13 2DE
  • Andersonstown Leisure Centre,130 Andersonstown Road, Belfast, BT11 9BY

Milestone 5

Submission of Planning Application and Environmental Statement following completion of Stage 2 PACC and any associated amendments to the project.

IN DETAIL

At this stage the proposed development comprises the demolition and subsequent redevelopment of Casement Park to create a new provincial GAA stadium; it is anticipated that proposals will include:

Demolition of all existing structures and their reuse on site where appropriate;

  • Construction of a new all-seater stadium with capacity to accommodate Ulster GAA finals and semi-finals, All Ireland Qualifiers, Antrim County GAA (football and hurling) fixtures and other sporting events. The pitch will be constructed and laid out to established GAA standards;
  • Stands on all sides accommodating spectator seating in a range of categories (general admission, premium, corporate, VIP, ambulant disabled and disabled – designed to the highest standards of inclusive design including space for families to sit with wheelchair users); associated player, media, conferencing, bar and banqueting facilities, offices (Event Management Suite), medical and safety facilities, handball courts, community space, education and heritage centre, social club, kitchens and circulation space;
  • The provision of floodlighting and stadium lighting to facilitate high-definition media;
  • On-site car, coach parking and provision of a space for outside broadcast;
  • Vehicular access to the site from Andersonstown Road; with emergency access arrangements towards Kennedy Way and Stockman’s Lane and pedestrian routes to Owenvarragh Park, Mooreland Drive and Andersonstown Road;
  • The stadium will be designed and constructed to a standard that will enable the hosting of a small number of special events including music concerts, subject to appropriate licensing and availability with regard to the primary use of the stadium for GAA fixtures and other sporting events;
  • The use of the Stadium for large scale (18,000 attendance) music events will be restricted by the seasonal nature of both the sporting calendar and the weather conditions which in effect will limit this use to not more than 5 days per annum.

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be prepared to address all environmental issues and submitted as part of the planning application. A number of preliminary/baseline environmental surveys are ongoing; these include but are not limited to:

  • Flora surveys
  • Mammal Surveys
  • Noise surveys
  • Ground Investigation surveys
  • Traffic surveys
  • Landscape & Visual surveys
  • Japanese Knotweed surveys and plan

The final design of the stadium will be subject to a detailed EIA that will address all necessary issues including:

  • Ecology
  • Air Quality & Climate
  • Noise & Vibration
  • Landscape & Visual
  • Water & Drainage
  • Cultural Heritage & Archaeology
  • Contaminated Land & Japanese Knotweed
  • Socio-economic
  • Overshadowing and Sunlight / Daylight effects
  • Lighting
  • Soils & Geology
  • Telecommunications
  • Highways & Transportation