Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey

Share Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey on Facebook Share Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey on Twitter Share Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey on Linkedin Email Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey link

Forth Meadow Community Greenway is a £6.2million EU PEACE IV-funded project connecting open spaces in north and west Belfast. The 12km greenway route, which also benefits from lighting, allows users to travel uninterrupted from Clarendon Playing Fields to the new Transport Hub in the city centre.

Since its opening, the greenway public access gates have generally been managed in line with the standard council "dawn to dusk" park opening hours. The parks that connect onto the greenway have the same dawn to dusk opening hours. However, as the greenway benefits from lighting along its main path ‘spine’ it has the potential to be accessible for use 24 hours a day, 7 days per week .

The greenway has five sections, four of which have access gates. These access gates are the focus of this consultation:

Section 1 - Glencairn Park to Forthriver Linear Park

Section 2 - Ballygomartin Road to Springfield Road

Section 3 - Springfield Park (Springfield Dam) to Falls Park

Section 4 - Bog Meadows Nature Reserve

Section 5 - Westlink to City Centre (no gates - for information only)

Map of the Forth Meadow Greenway showing how the greenway connects various parks across the north and west of the city (Glencairn Park, Clarendon Playing Fields, Forthriver Linear Park, Woodvale Park, Paisley Park, Springfield Dam Park, Whiterock Leisure Centre, Falls Park and Bog Meadows Nature Reserve) to Belfast city centre and the new Belfast Transport Hub via the Westlink pedestrian path. The map also indicates where each of the sections of the greenway are located.

Purpose of consultation

The purpose of the consultation is to help us make a decision about the operational opening hours for the greenway going forward. It provides all stakeholders, including local residents and greenway users, the opportunity to have their say and the opportunity to highlight any local factors relevant to individual access gates that need to be considered.

The findings of the consultation, including any recommendations to extend the opening hours for the greenway, will be considered by Elected Members in Spring 2025. Subject to council approval, operational changes to the opening hours will then be trialled for a one-year period. On completion of this trial period, a second phase of the consultation will take place to review the gate opening hour arrangements across the greenway. It is only at this stage that final recommendations regarding the opening hours for the Forth Meadow Greenway will be made to council and permanent changes to the opening hours agreed and formalised in council bye-laws.

Note: In parallel to this, we will also establish a ‘Forthmeadow Community Greenway Gate Closure Protocol’. These protocols are developed in collaboration with the PSNI and can be activated in response to a security assessment by the PSNI.

Hard copies of the survey are available at our information sessions or please email parksinfo@belfastcity.gov.uk and we will issue a copy.

Forth Meadow Community Greenway is a £6.2million EU PEACE IV-funded project connecting open spaces in north and west Belfast. The 12km greenway route, which also benefits from lighting, allows users to travel uninterrupted from Clarendon Playing Fields to the new Transport Hub in the city centre.

Since its opening, the greenway public access gates have generally been managed in line with the standard council "dawn to dusk" park opening hours. The parks that connect onto the greenway have the same dawn to dusk opening hours. However, as the greenway benefits from lighting along its main path ‘spine’ it has the potential to be accessible for use 24 hours a day, 7 days per week .

The greenway has five sections, four of which have access gates. These access gates are the focus of this consultation:

Section 1 - Glencairn Park to Forthriver Linear Park

Section 2 - Ballygomartin Road to Springfield Road

Section 3 - Springfield Park (Springfield Dam) to Falls Park

Section 4 - Bog Meadows Nature Reserve

Section 5 - Westlink to City Centre (no gates - for information only)

Map of the Forth Meadow Greenway showing how the greenway connects various parks across the north and west of the city (Glencairn Park, Clarendon Playing Fields, Forthriver Linear Park, Woodvale Park, Paisley Park, Springfield Dam Park, Whiterock Leisure Centre, Falls Park and Bog Meadows Nature Reserve) to Belfast city centre and the new Belfast Transport Hub via the Westlink pedestrian path. The map also indicates where each of the sections of the greenway are located.

Purpose of consultation

The purpose of the consultation is to help us make a decision about the operational opening hours for the greenway going forward. It provides all stakeholders, including local residents and greenway users, the opportunity to have their say and the opportunity to highlight any local factors relevant to individual access gates that need to be considered.

The findings of the consultation, including any recommendations to extend the opening hours for the greenway, will be considered by Elected Members in Spring 2025. Subject to council approval, operational changes to the opening hours will then be trialled for a one-year period. On completion of this trial period, a second phase of the consultation will take place to review the gate opening hour arrangements across the greenway. It is only at this stage that final recommendations regarding the opening hours for the Forth Meadow Greenway will be made to council and permanent changes to the opening hours agreed and formalised in council bye-laws.

Note: In parallel to this, we will also establish a ‘Forthmeadow Community Greenway Gate Closure Protocol’. These protocols are developed in collaboration with the PSNI and can be activated in response to a security assessment by the PSNI.

Hard copies of the survey are available at our information sessions or please email parksinfo@belfastcity.gov.uk and we will issue a copy.

  • Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey

    Registered Your Say Belfast users:

    The survey is anonymous. However, if you are a registered user of our Your Say Belfast (YSB) platform, please sign out of your YSB account so that your response remains anonymous. Please be aware, that if you are signed into Your Say Belfast, your email and site registration details can be linked to this survey.

    To read our privacy notice please click here 

    The survey is split into five parts . Parts 1 to 4, looks at the access gates within specific sections of the greenway. The final part asks for information about you or your organisation, such as how often you use the greenway, what you use it for and other demographic information.

    Take Survey
    Share Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey on Facebook Share Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey on Twitter Share Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey on Linkedin Email Forth Meadow Greenway Opening Hours Survey link
Page last updated: 16 Jan 2025, 05:17 PM