Debate contribution: Maze/Long Kesh Redevelopment and Investment
Debate contribution by Ms Sorcha Eastwood on .
- MLA
- Ms Sorcha Eastwood
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 23 April 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Adjournment
- Heading
- Maze/Long Kesh Redevelopment and Investment
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4485690
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I declare an interest as a former councillor on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. I welcome the opportunity to have this debate. I want it to be solution-focused and forward-looking. However, we need to acknowledge where we are with the Maze/Long Kesh site and how we got here. The Maze/Long Kesh site perfectly encapsulates a level of political failure: something full of such promise that has stalled. It is a site of huge economic and social value, not to just Lagan Valley but the whole of Northern Ireland. It sits on the Belfast to Dublin corridor, which is, I think, the only European transport corridor on the whole island, and is close to major airports and ports. The Maze/Long Kesh Development Corporation noted that it has the potential to deliver £800 million of investment and up to 14,000 jobs, yet Ministers refuse time and time again to be decisive and choose a positive way forward. Ahead of the debate, I looked at previous plans for the site. Of course, we know about the potential for a multisport stadium that could have seen us hosting multiple international events, but the previous master plan also had provision for housing, leisure facilities, innovation zones, parks and community areas. While the headlines always talk about the lost opportunity with the sports stadium, I talk about the loss for our constituents in Lagan Valley of all the things that could have made our area so much better: housing, jobs and green space. This is deeply personal to me as I grew up just a short distance from the Maze/Long Kesh site, and I know what it could be for the people of the area and beyond. We know that brilliant work is being done at the site with the Ulster Aviation Society and Air Ambulance Northern Ireland and that it now houses the Balmoral show. However, we are where we are, and where we are today with Maze/Long Kesh is nothing short of a scandal. The Maze/Long Kesh Development Corporation became operational in 2012. It had a remit to secure the regeneration of Maze/Long Kesh by bringing land and buildings into effective use; encouraging public and private investment and the development of industry and commerce; creating an attractive environment; and ensuring that social, recreational, cultural and community facilities were available. However, as there is no ministerial agreement on a way forward, the corporation is constrained in what it can do. In an answer to my question for written answer, the First Minister and deputy First Minister said:
"The Development Corporation is currently charged with maintaining and managing the site, carrying out essential health and safety works, and supporting the existing tenants."
Its role has, effectively, been reduced to that of caretakers; yet we have appointed a new board and chairman, at significant expense. We need to do much better. In its annual report for 2022-23, the MLK Development Corporation noted that there was the potential to create six hubs on the site, including for health and life sciences, agri-food, community living and health and well-being. Indeed, I am sure that Invest NI and Enterprise NI would be willing to lend their expertise when it comes to bringing the site to life. There was also talk of Northern Ireland becoming a green investment zone. I would welcome that and argue that this site could play a major role in it. There is a clear vision, and there are ideas for the site, but the political leadership to help bring them forward is missing. I look forward to the response to the debate from the First Minister and deputy First Minister, but I really do not want to hear the obvious response. Indeed, I looked back over years of questions for written answer about plans for the site, and the response from the First Minister and deputy First Minister has always been roughly the same: "We recognise the great value and potential of the site and look forward to working towards its regeneration". I truly hope that there is more to say in today's debate, because everyone knows the value and potential of the site. That is not what is missing. The people of Lagan Valley and across Northern Ireland deserve better than drift, year after year. I want to hear clear ambition and detail today, because I have that ambition for us all. I want plans and timelines. I want our First Minister and deputy First Minister to deliver on the potential of the site so that we can start to realise its full potential and move towards the better future that we all deserve.
774 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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