In the last few months thousands of people have been participating in the public consultation process for homes on the largest vacant site of public land in the city. And now the results are in! More than 100 people took part in the public consultation process for homes on the largest vacant site of public land in the city, and the results were overwhelmingly positive.

91% of people agreed that Mackie’s should be developed, while 86% agreed that the 25 acre site should be used to address housing need in the area.

Following many years of campaigning for homes to be built in the areas of greatest need, Take Back the City ran a community consultation on the 10th September, as part of the planning process for our masterplan for the Mackie’s site.

After submitting our application notice to the Council in May 2024 -  the first time a community has done this on land it does not own - we took to the streets, chatting to local residents about our plans and inviting them to have their say on the plans. Leaflets were delivered to 2,800 homes in the area, and 53 organisations including Shankill Women’s Centre, Clonard Youth Group, and Springboard. The consultation was advertised in Andersonstown News and the Shankill Mirror, and the takebackthecity.ie page received 2,500 visitors who viewed the plans and signed our Take Action petition.

This is not the first time that the Take Back the City campaign has engaged in some form of community consultation, with views of local residents and homeless families forming the basis of what the Mackie’s plans have become.

In 2021, PPR carried out a detailed survey amongst local community groups and stakeholders to gauge interest and attitudes to potential housing at the Mackie’s site.

In 2022 the City of the Future design competition was held, with 11 designs shortlisted by judges and voted and commented on by the public in their thousands.

In 2023, Matthew Lloyd Architects were announced as winners of the competition, and later that year Matthew presented the plans to local community members. Since then the campaign has been engaging with local communities, as well as public bodies, to refine the plans for housing on the Mackie’s site.

Across the board respondents were in agreement that Mackie’s could no longer stay vacant and should be used to address the huge housing need in the area

It was these plans, dreamed up by homeless families and made reality by experts, which were put to the public for consultation on the 10th September. Through the consultation day, held at Forthspring, to the online and in-person responses, people were asked their opinion on various aspects of the proposal, including the housing mix, roads, and the use of employment space. Across the board respondents were in agreement that Mackie’s could no longer stay vacant and should be used to address the huge housing need in the area:

• 91% of respondents thought that the Mackie’s site should be developed in some way

• 86% of people thought that the site should be used to address housing need.

• 75% of respondents agreed that our Take Back the City masterplan should be developed, with the majority of people supporting the housing mix in the proposal as well as the space allocated for employment space.

Of the reasons given for support, more than half of those who responded stated that ‘housing need’ was their biggest motivation for supporting homes on Mackie’s, with a number of people also noting that this development would be good for the community.

You can read all of the report here.

What’s clear to Take Back the City from this process is that for both the people living around the site and those dreaming of having homes there one day, Mackie’s is both a sensible choice and the embodiment of hope. Over the years there have been many people who have told us that building  homes on the site was an impossibility, that people could not live together, that we must be kept apart forever.

Those people have been shown to be wrong, in the best way possible -  this kind, caring community welcomes these proposals and is ready to open its doors.

It’s time for the doubters to get on board.