Hi everyone hope you all had a nice Christmas and looking forward to a great new year, we have been in existence now for more than a year and we have achieved a lot in that time. We have seen many changes, including the credit crunch hitting many home buyers and developers alike,also the area has changed where old housing stock has been demolished by the developers and left as land banks.

We have seen so many development sites left as fly tips without being fenced off, it just shows what high regard the developers hold for the people of Sydenham and what respect they hold for our children who are put in danger by these sites left in an unsafe condition,we call on those responsible to take a second look at how they have left their sites and think again regarding security. I cannot understand their thinking, it is an open invitation to anyone wanting to have a fall on someone elses land and put a huge claim in.

We have seen the residents association grow from strength to strength this year and we have achieved a lot, thanks to the hard work of our members. just look at what we have achieved since our first meeting in June 07 Tree Protection Orders  on all the trees on the Palmerston Road and the Hill at Dennorton Park. we have succeeded in spot listing the Gustav Wolff Cottages at Station Road, we are in contact with Wesley Housing Association regarding a sign to depict the Smiles Family on the Palmerston Road,we have also been in contact with the Belfast Historical Society in regard to having a Blue Plaque put on the former residence of Stewart Parker play write on the Larkfield Road.

We are seeing our notice boards going up on many main road in and out of Sydenham we are also very pleased with  contacts that we have made with Northern Ireland Railways, our agreement reached by both of us to work together in making Sydenham Station become one of the prime halts on the Bangor line.We have to say a big thank you to  Mr Gerard McAtarsney of Station Management for the great work in placing two stands for our notice boards and also the safety fence that has been built for the benefit of the community. we are very pleased in the way Northern Ireland Railways wants to work with community associations and has listened to the association on the needs of the community in the Sydenham area and we look forward to working with him in the future.

We have seen many new groups start up in the Sydenham area and we welcome them all as part of our community, we have seen many changes in how we want change brought about. We have seen the formation of groups for and against the airport, and  groups for the protection of Victoria Park. Also the forming  of the Sydenham Community Partnership headed by Chris Deconnink ,we would like to thank Chris for every thing that he does for the Sydenham Community and for all the hard work that he does within our community. I have seen Chris working late into the night and is hands on in helping with all events a really big thanks to you Chris for this

We have seen our first event taking place with the Church of Ireland on the Larkfield Road we would like to thank the Minister for all the hard work by himself and the people of the church to make this event happen we say a big thank you to Francy McCrea Minister

in letting us hold the event in the church grounds and the church hall and for taking time with our visitors from Finglas in the South of Ireland. This was our first ever event and without his expertise we would have had a problem. We would also thank Chris Deconnink for his input in this event he worked very hard indeed to make sure that our visitors were treated well, we would also thank him for his experience in putting an event like this on and we hope to work with him again on another project for the Sydenham Youth in the coming summer months once more Big Thanks to Francy and Chris for all your work.

Neighbourhood Watch we are pleased to say that our neighbourhood watch scheme is also going from strength to strength we are bringing on new areas to help the community feel safer. We hope to have signs up on Station Road, Larkfield Road ,Victoria Road and Inverary Drive, this will cover all major routes in to the area,  we are hoping to bring on more in the new year. We would like to thank Sean McCormmick for all the time he has taken in making sure that things happen when they are supposed to. Many Thanks Sean

Policing in the Area we would like to thank the PSNI of Northern Ireland for all the hard work they do in our area and for the time they take in attending meetings some of which they get a very hard time at, we would like to thank the Police at Strandtown for the hard work they do for so little praise. many many thanks

New Links we have been making new links with other groups this year,  and we are pleased with the links we now have with the Inverary Community, we want to work closer with them in events and community projects and working with the Sydenham Youth to help them feel included in the decisions being made in the Community. We have also made better links with the Inverary Community Centre and we wish to thank all the staff for the hard work that they do in the centre, we also say special thanks to Sandra Workman who does a great job in the Sydenham Community and works hard for the whole community of Sydenham in times when she is unwell her self, many thanks Sandra For all you do and the hard work you put in.(a real community worker)

The Palmerston Residents Association is for the whole community and is open to people who would like to become members we like to think that we care what happens in our community, not just to stop developments or new apartments but to make change in the area we live in and to bring about real change to all the residents in the Sydenham Area. We have a big job to do and many things to put right we are here because we need to be we want our community to get all that is on offer to them, community grants being spent on the community and the area being regenerated.The residents association will fight for change in the area and will help anyone who can bring about change for the good of the Sydenham area,  we will work with our council to bring about change to our streets to make them safer for the whole community.We will work with Belfast City Airport to bring about change in the way they handle noise pollution and in the way they handle the environmental issues like Victoria Park, as chairman of the residents association I feel it is better to be on the inside talking than being on the outside shouting. Change only happens when someone wants to listen, I feel its time to engage with the airport and not just shout about it. I feel the airport is here to stay and is going nowhere and its time to work with them on issues that impact on us all.

I would like to thank everyone for all the hard work they have done for us in the past year and hope you all have a good new year and hope to see you all in the new year

Best Regards

Terry Hoey

We would like to thank Chris Deconnink for all the support he has given us during 08 in relation to supporting are grant for Disabled Learners Classes that we will now be able to set up in the new year Chris has always been very supportive in our projects but we feel that our classes will enable us to help our disabled community and allow them to access the Internet and to open up a whole new way of life for them.

The classes will be starting early next year we will have places for five people at the beginning but we are hoping to expand on this as time goes on we will also be holding classes for our senior citizens to enable them to access the Internet giving them more choice in how they live in regard to online shopping,emailing and Online Banking we will be keeping our classes small to enable our learners to have a better chance to interact with the instructors.

Classes will be held in community centres and church halls to enable citizens have a much easier access to them and any one wanting to join a class will have to apply to the residents association for booking information.

To Book Please Write To

Terry Hoey

Palmerston Residents Association

C/o 86 Palmerston Road

Sydenham

Belfast

Northern Ireland

BT4 1QD

This is a picture of our brave little grandson who is fighting XLP,HLH,EBV, in Bristol Childrens Hospital in England. At the age of only five years old our little grandson fights these dreadful diseases  that are infecting his little body. when he would visit us on holiday he would say he was a super hero.
Cavan is like any other little boy of his age running around in a Spider man suit zapping everyone in site. We cannot understand why these diseases have picked on him, we have been told that XLP only effects one hundred families world wide. when we went to Bristol Hospital to see him we found it all very hard to take in.
Our grandson has lost an inconceivable amount of weight and the drugs he has to take to try to fight off the infections are incredible. We rely on medical research to tackle this disease to help young children fight it with better odds than they have at present. When we see our grandson and how he is now it just rips your heart out.
XLP is a genetic disease could it be tested for before birth and the gene fixed before birth, this must be possible we can do so much but we cannot solve this problem why?
when you see and live with the results of this disease and the uncertainty of it all, and the impact it will have on our grandsons life. We have to ask how this can happen in a world that is so far advanced and has made so many medical achievements, but this gene cannot be cracked.
As the grandparents of Cavan we have decided to set up a trust fund for him as we cannot be sure of the outcome of the XLP.  His doctors are giving him chemotherapy by lumber puncture to kill off lymphasites in his brain.  We do not know what effect this will have on his brain We ask the readers of ZIMBIO to Lobby their drug manufacturers to look at XLP and to help us get the word out regarding this disease please when you read this article make up your mind to  join with us in a search for a drug that will wipe this disease of the face of the earth .
Our grandson had glandular fever and seems to have been the trigger for it how many more parents in the world could be at risk of this disease and do not know they are passing it on to the boys in their families. as XLP only attacks boys and is passed on by the mother. Help us to help them make

XLP known throughout the world and press for research.

The Cavan Tommy Hoey Trust
C/o 86 Palmerston Road
Sydenham
Belfast
Northern Ireland
BT4 1QD
Do not Read This And Do Nothing Do Something To Help Our Fight

As chairman of the Palmerston Residents Association I thought I was a Real Fighter for good causes I did not for one moment think I would Be fighting for a cause that would be so close to both my wife and our family’s heart our grandson has XLP,HLH,EBV,.During the past few weeks we have been in England to be close to him and his mum Debs and dad Jason and his sister Maeve they all live in Cornwall in a small town in Bodmin,our grand son had been ill for some weeks we thought he had Glandular Fever and started to get worse.

My wife and I travelled over to England to see him we had been in constant contact with our son on the journey down from Stranraer to Cornwall our son rang us and told us he was being moved to the Children’s Hospital in Bristol as the Hospital in Cornwall felt that he may have HLH,in its self this is a life threatening illness but at that time we were not aware just how sick our grandson was when we were on the Motorway we passed his Ambulance taking him to Bristol Hospital,we did not think over the next few weeks just what a roller coaster we had got on.

Our grandson has been fighting a battle his mum and dad was told at one time that the next 48hrs would be crucial to him as he had had a seizure we were then told that he had the EBV,Virus as well it took some days before the Hospital could confirm that he had XLP this disease is thought to affect less than 1 child in a million due to this doctors know little about the disease our little grandson is a real fighter he has to take so many drugs to enable his little body to fight off the disease who would have thought that something like glandular fever could trigger this off.

How Common Is XLP

This disease is extremely rare 100 families with XLP are known world wide the cause of the condition was only found in 1999 it is caused by a mutation or even a mistake in genes the treatment at the this time is anti- viral medicines and immunoglobulin therapy or steroids the child may receive a variety of treatments .Bone marrow transplant is the definitive treatment of choice 70% of individuals with XLP die by the age of ten years without any treatment. However, as we are learning more about the Disease they are identifying adults with milder forms of the condition

(Great Ormond Street Hospital)

I have supported many causes since setting up the Residents Association and I feel that more has to be done to research into this disease and that XLP should be highlighted and I intend to do just that,as Jason and Debs and Maeve live in England and we live in Northern Ireland our family members intend to set up a Trust Fund for Cavan to help with family support for them we have also received information that Bodmin Community also want to set up a fund to support them. We hope to link with them to enable us to raise funds for { The Cavan Tommy Hoey Trust } we would also like to Mention the Support that has been given by C L I C in Bristol as they have been a great support to Jason, Debs And Maeve at this time. Our whole family would like to thank the Bristol Children’s Hospital for all the care they are giving our grandson at this time and would also like to thank all the nurses for showing such care to our grandson and to the doctors who are treating him at this time.

We would ask anyone reading this to help and support this cause either in funding or letters of support to

The Cavan Tommy Hoey Trust C/o 86 Palmerston Road,Sydenham,Belfast,Northern Ireland, email terryhoey@ntlworld.com

The Palmerston Residents Association have been in contact with the Education Board since 20th March2008 we were informed at the time the Board intended to close the Sydenham Youth Centre, as the Centre is situated on the Palmerston Road the Association felt it should have been consulted regarding the decision of the Board,the association have always taken a stand for the Community it represents. Our Constitution is founded on the basis of  principals we will not go back on. We stand up for our Senior Citizens,our Disabled Community, our Youth,and our Ethnic Community.

The Palmerston Residents Association have always fought long and hard for the rights of the community, which is Sydenham in entirety, not as it is known by our officials as Sydenham One, Sydenham Two,and Sydenham Three, our community spreads to the whole of our community and that is Sydenham. We are proud of it and its history,  we believe  that our politicians and government founders should wake up to this, Sydenham is a community that has been ravaged by developers and by groups who act for our community who do not live here and do not see what their decisions do to our community.

We have ask the Education Board since the 20th March 2008 how it reached its EQIA under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and how it carried out the consultation process to ensure all communities in the area had been consulted, how the information was presented to them and in what formats. Was the consultation process in accordance with the Guiding Principles set out by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, the main groups to section 75 categories Religious Belief,Political Opinion,Racial Group,Gender,Marital Status,Age,Persons with a Disability,Persons with Dependants, Sexual Orientation.

Our community should be consulted on how a public building that has cost tax payers money to build is to be disposed off. The Education Board has a duty to the community to fully consult with them before any action is taken to dispose  or relocate a public building. We feel the Sydenham Community has not been properly consulted on this issue we have ask the Education Board many many times to hold an audit in the area, to enable them to find out what youth provision is required in the Sydenham area, and to look at groups from the disabled community, the Ethnic Community and people of different faiths. We felt that if groups where excluded it would sore up problems for our community in the long term.

The Residents Association would refer to the Education Boards letter of the 22nd July 2008 SM/CMcQ in its summary Paragraph 5, It is the view of the board that any adverse impact as a result of closure of the Sydenham Youth Facility was mitigated and therefore did not require an Equality Impact Assessment.  We would also refer the board to its response to the Palmerston Residents Association under the heading ‘Audits in the Area for Purpose of Closure’ states I am unclear what you mean by audits in the area for the purpose of closure’ I am unaware of any audits conducted in the area for the purpose of closure in these circumstances for this or any other BELB building. The original purpose of closure was to protect the health and safety of the staff and the users is a legal matter and is not an issue on which the BELB could or would consult local residents.

The Residents Association feel that if the building was closed on the grounds of health and safety to protect the staff and the users why then did it fail to disclose to the residents association what type of asbestos was in the youth centre and if it was that serious of a threat why were no hazard warning signs displayed around the outside of the building warning our community of the dangers that lay with in. We also requested in our letter to the Board 5th August 2008 to supply us with what measures have been taken to safe guard the public from entering the building and causing damage to the Asbestos.

The Residents Association has in its procession an audit that had been carried out in the area  under the heading Sydenham Youth Audit  Commissioned by East Belfast Area Youth Project and Strand Presbyterian Church. We refer to our letter of the 5th august 2008 under the heading ‘Audits’ we ask was the Boards Decision to relocate to Strand Presbyterian Church influenced by this audit. We refer to the Boards letter dated 10th October 2008 where it states the boards decision to relocate its services was explained in previous correspondence and was in no way influenced by the audit carried out by Converge.

The Residents Association feel that if any audit should have taken place it should have been screened under section 75, we feel the audit that took place for Strand Presbyterian Church should have been screened for the purpose of section 75  to make sure it had covered the main groups relevant to the section,the association feel the Education Board should have carried out an audit in the area to include all categories in section 75. The association are concerned the youth in the area who may not want to attend church will fall through the net,we feel this issue will not go away and it must be fixed before the youth in the area feel they have been sidelined.

The Residents Association meeting with the Education Board was in a response to their letter of the 10th Oct 2008 as it stated it wanted to meet with us once more. We ask  the board to carry out an audit in the area to enable it to realise what youth provision was needed in the area, we also refer to their letter of the 10th Oct 2008 where it states the youth service in Belfast,in tandem with the other four education and library boards,will shortly be advertising a new registration process as the result of an equality impact assessment of the registration and grant aid schemes.This will be an opportunity for youth groups,including section 75 groups highlighted in your letter,to register with the board with the possibility of accessing future funding. The association is pleased by this statement but it fails to put right the wrong.In not consulting the community before it relocated its youth club to Strand Presbyterian Church when it could have relocated it to mobile classrooms in the area until proper assessments under the risk of asbestos be carried out by an independent assessment by the Health and Safety Executive

The Residents Association said before the meeting that it would not discuss with the board issues we have with the board in the management of the Asbestos, and why they deemed this building surplus to requirements due to the health and safety issues when other youth clubs have been upgraded.  Health and safety issues in another building cost the board for security because it was damaged by fire and was deemed to be demolished, but then reprieved for further assessment. We can assure the board that we do not intend to let the issue drop until youth provision in the Sydenham area is audited  under section 75 to include all groups who live in our community. We  would also ask if the board carried out an audit in the area that covers all these groups would you please produce it to enable the residents association to close this issue.

The Palmerston Residents Association has been campaigning for some time trying to reverse the decision of the Belfast Education Board to close the Sydenham Youth Centre we have felt that Education Board had made a wrong decision we lobbied them to hold a audit  in the area to take into account the views of our young people and our disabled and ethnic groups we have ask to have this carried out by an independent source we have requested this form our first contact with the Education Board and also at our meeting 17th October 2008

We felt at that meeting we could have come to some form of understanding with the Education Board on how it sees the youth provision in the Sydenham Area we felt that this would be the way forward,to our dismay it was not what the Education Board was there for it just did not want to try and reach any understanding at all,and railroaded over our concerns regarding youth provision in the area to our dismay.

The Residents Association is a  fully constituted association and represents our community, we know the need for this centre and we feel it is vital link for our youth,we see it as a place of learning and involvement we know the youth in the area need this facility. We are aware the majority of youth want to have a neutral area to enable them to take ownership of it. We believe now more than ever the Education Board needs to look at their youth department and who heads it up and ask its self is it fit for purpose in 2008.

The association looks to other parts of the UK and see how they understand the needs of youth,  millions of pounds are  spent on youth by Play England and Play London we must draw into question why our young people are not worth the same. If we are trying to build a peaceful and exclusive society we have to look to our younger generation. Millions of pounds are spent on buildings making land marks yet we can not do the same to provide our young people places to meet or play.  We ask the Education Board to read the insert on youth clubs published in the London Play News Oct 08.

Youth clubs help to cut antisocial behaviour, according to recent research from Clubs for Young People
(CYP): the umbrella group of 3,000 UK youth clubs. The study reveals there is a relationship between the
number of Asbos issued and availability of youth clubs: more Asbos are issued in places where fewer
youth clubs exist. It also finds there are more children per youth club in deprived areas. Clubs for Young
People is involved in the Blueprint project which aims to set out a plan for fun and effective youth centres.
Simon Antrobus, Chief Executive of Clubs for Young People, said: “Young people rightly deserve high
quality facilities in their communities which is why it’s important that we lead a discussion on what turns a
community facility into a world class provision where young people can have fun, learn and grow as
individuals. (London Play News)

children regarded freedom, physical activity and areas to socialise with friends as the most important
elements of good play provision. However, barriers to play included traffic, bullying, stranger danger,
racism and negative adult attitudes such as areas with ‘No Ball Games’ signs. The single most common
barrier to play was physical distance from play areas which was a particular problem for disabled children(London Play News)

The Palmerston Residents Association ask the Education Minister to look at its (youth)Department and question themselves are they fit for purpose. Are they looking after the needs of our younger generation or pushing the youth where they do not want to go.

Dear Minister and Chief Executive

The Palmerston Residents Association has been in contact with you and your department for some months we have been asking for answers to questions that I feel are very important. We require answers to why Asbestos was used in the Building of the Youth Centre on the Palmerston Road Sydenham Belfast.

We also requested copies of the minutes of meetings that had taken place over a two year period with other groups to enable us to have a grasp of the feelings of the participants involved in the meeting at that time.We have also stated from our first contact with the board that a proper audit be carried out in the whole area of Sydenham and Ashmount area, to involve every household to enable the Education Board to gauge what Youth provision was needed in the area and what type of youth provision was required.

The Education board has continually said they felt there was no need for an audit in the area I as chairman of the residents association totally disagree with the Board. I feel that as the Board held talks for two years on a major issue as moving or shutting down a facility such as the Youth Hall the first thing that should have taken place was to ask the community and seek a wide range of expression in the area.

We have said from our first contact that the need for an audit was vital purely because the facility is the only neutral   building in the area apart from Inverary Community Centre that is booked out most time, the need for the Youth Club In the area is vital for the younger generation of all communities in the area and is vital to the growth of the Sydenham and the Ashmount areas, the board in its attitude to the audit is totally flawed as it seems to feel it has no need to find out what people who live in the area want. The board fails to recognise the changing  population in Northern Ireland and the need to be fully inclusive of all communities and the needs of the disabled communities in the area.

I as chairman ask the Education Board to think again on this Youth Hall the need for it in our area is vital to enable the community youth have a place they can go to and claim as their own. The need for youth workers in the area is also vital to help our young community deal with the pressures it is under in our way of life today,never has young people in Northern Ireland needed such a facility as now.  We see other parts of the UK spending millions of pounds on it youth through Play England and Play London the government has recognised the need for our young people to have places for play and recreation.  If we want to tackle the problems that our younger generation have to face today.

I look at other parts of the UK that I have lived in and how the youth is provided for and it makes me feel disgusted

In other parts of the UK young people attend rock concerts, make records, skate board centres and adventure playgrounds. In other parts of the UK they have not had to tackle thirty six years of violence yet our young people are at the end of the line when it comes to youth provision, we see our young people committing suicide  because of the baggage they carry around with them, reports show East Belfast is becoming one of the highest places for suicide. The DSD has deemed it an area at risk.

I also know our mental health services are stretched to bursting as it has been under funded for years, I have seen our younger community trying to deal with mental health problems like never before, they have so many problems to deal with yet they are the ones that are forgotten in Northern Ireland. We spend millions on public enquiries, but find it hard to fund mental health for our youth.

I ask you the Minister of Education and The Chief Executive to rethink your plans on the Sydenham Youth Club and give it back to the young people of the area, if the Board has sold it buy it back then hold an audit in the area and find out what the young people in the area really want, show us that the Education Board  has vision and they are looking to the future and not having tunnel vision in the needs of our young community.

The Sydenham Youth Club has not been in use for over two years it is falling into disrepair, the Board say it is because the building has asbestos in it, then take your opportunity to answer our letter to you and clear up the points we have raised,  all we ask from you are answers as to why our young peoples Youth Club lies closed, when other parts of the UK are spending millions for youth provision yet the Board decides that it would cost too much to  refurbish it and bring it to a standard where disabled people could also use it. I feel this is a nonsense as the building is approximately twenty years old.  How could this be right how can you put a price on the future of the youth in the area?

Terry Hoey

Chairman Palmerston Residents Association

Palmerston Residents Association Intends To Call A Public Meeting With Regard To The Sydenham Youth Club And The Education Board For Northern IrelandThe Palmerston Residents Association intends to call a public meeting after it consults with its executive committee this month the association has been in contact with the Education Minister for Northern Ireland and the Ministers Officials and Chief Executive at their Belfast Headquarters 40 Academy Street Belfast. The Chairman of the Residents Association is intending to call this meeting due to the lack of a response to its letter to the board of the 5th August when it raised concerns regarding Health and Safety issues at the Sydenham youth centre Palmerston Road.  We would ask all interested parties who wish to attend  this public meeting to please contact us by email at campaigns@palmerston-residents-association.org or by fax to 02890200988

The Palmerston Residents Association visited the Tommy Patton Memorial Park on the Holywood Road in East Belfast the park sits on the old playing fields of Ashfield School,the park is equipped with a play area for children.  Not very far away there is  another park on the Circular Road Belfast it also has a play area for the young children. We would like to take you back to our two photographs of the play area at Victoria Park, as you can see this park has inadequate facilities for children.  Amazingly it sits in the highest density area for young children, the area covers the Sydenham District which ranges from back to back housing with little or no gardens front or back. Sydenham has major health problems both physical and mental illness exists, alongside anti social behaviour and the area is rated by the DSD as an area of risk. The Palmerston Residents Association has seen Victoria park slowly wound down we have heard other groups say they want to save Victoria Park, some groups blame the deterioration of the park on aircraft passing overhead, we ask these groups to look at our photographs and judge for them selves. We have seen our park exploited by some groups  to advance their own agenda, the difference with the Palmerston Residents Association is we have no agenda only to improve the area for our community and get facilities to the area that will take children of the streets and away from antisocial behaviour and crime. The association see our area deteriorate with less and less green spaces for our children to play. we see more and more signs going up saying No Ball Games, No Skate Boarding,No Admittance Residents Only and no cycling .Children have a right to play under the UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD article 31 of the convention sets out the child’s right to engage in play and recreational activities http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm.  We want our younger generation to have inclusive play and equal access in leisure opportunities including disabled children. we can see by our photographs how unequal the play facilities are in Victoria Park yet it is in an area of risk, we also see from our photographs the over flying planes could not have caused this deterioration of Victoria Park it is man made. We need to put the spotlight on the people who are responsible for this and away from other issues the association feels that our park should and must be brought up to the same standard of other capital cities. We need both council investment and business to invest in Victoria Park  we should  campaign and petition the members of the parks committee for improvements to the park and write to, email or telephone whatever it takes to demand the  MLA’s act regarding Victoria Park Play Facilities for children. The association feels that the park is large enough for the council to act now, if they are concerned about the widening of the Sydenham By Pass that is no excuse just relocate it to a better position in the park where children will not have to inhale fumes from passing cars and lorries on the Sydenham By Pass. Use the site the play area is on for tree planting. We urge you to read our final issue on Victoria Park day seven why not take a look at our new blog site for our youth in the community visit http://palmerston-play.live.spaces.com

The photographs show the model boating lake that was once a play area for young and old alike you would go to the park at anytime and parents with their children using this lake to sail model yachts, motor boats and radio control boats. This was a place were the community met, model boat clubs came from Bangor and East Belfast to compete against each other. This pond was always a place where you could go and catch up with the latest models that other enthusiasts had built. Some were driven by steam and some by remote control the park was the hub of the community. You can see by the tree planning program that the Council has taken up that it now removes one of the parks vital assets for community building,the park works like an employer for the community it relies on the the community bring to it or it fails just like any other business. The community needs to bring their model boats to the park and use the lake to encourage other enthusiasts to do the same. In turn fathers and sons get together and bond. The children then have something to look forward to. We see in other cities that they now recognise how important play is for young people it helps with mental illness it gives them community bonding, and a reason to go out of the house and play inspiring confidence in our younger generation.

Victoria Park has always been the hub of East Belfast It is even recorded in the Hansard report 17th April 1946 when Mr Beattie

ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether will immediately derequisition Victoria Public Park,situated in East Belfast, so as to restore to the working class people of the district their rights to make use of these grounds owing to this being the only recreation ground inside a built up area.

The Palmerston Residents Association now repeats the words of Mr Beattie and ask when is the Children of East Belfast going to be able to enjoy the park once more as children as they need to play also