Northern Ireland

Belfast City Council confirm Avoniel Leisure Centre car park bonfire to be removed

A crowd gathers to watch men  remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire

Belfast City Council has confirmed it will remove bonfire material from the car park of one of its leisure centres.

Bonfire builders had removed tyres from the site at Avoniel Leisure Centre in east Belfast in an attempt to prevent any action by the council following a vote yesterday to use contractors to remove materials from the site.

The leisure facility shut on Sunday afternoon due to concerns for staff after a handful of loyalists closed the main gates for a time to prevent material being removed.

Speakig this afternoon, a council spokeswoman said: "Today Members of the SP&R committee met again to discuss a number of bonfire sites.

"In relation to Avoniel, the outcome was to adhere to the original decision of the committee.

A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire

"Efforts have been ongoing for several months to encourage bonfire builders to be mindful of the need to protect life and property."

Read More: Bonfire 'should not be built' in council-owned car park

She added: "The committee also made it clear that any acts aimed at intimidating elected representatives or public officials are unacceptable and should be condemned."

Outside Musgrave Street police station this morning, Jamie Bryson, a representative of the bonfire builders from the East Belfast Cultural Collective, said: "We are now at a tipping point and should masked contractors and police go in to remove what is now a perfectly safe bonfire with no tyres then any influence we have will be exhausted at that point in time and it's anybody's guess where we go at that point."

Yesterday, the committee voted to use contractors to remove materials from the Avoniel site and another at nearby Ashdale Street car park.

Bonfire builders subsequently relocated the Ashdale Street fire to another site close to Mersey Street.

However, the Avoniel bonfire remains on site, partially constructed, with builders showing no inclination to relocate it.

Early on Sunday police supported masked council contractors as they removed about 1,800 tyres from a bonfire off London Road in south Belfast.

In Portadown, Co Armagh, residents of three apartment blocks in the Corcrain area have been urged to evacuate their homes due to concerns about the size of the bonfire built close-by.

Loyalists are planning to hold a rally at the Avoniel site at 7pm tonight to protest.

In response, the city council announced the early closure of the leisure centre today.

Sinn Féin councillor Deirdre Hargey said site assessments from statutory agencies reported that the bonfire posed a "significant risk" to nearby property

"As a council and public authority on which this bonfire is situated on our land we have to react to that for the public interest," she said.

She said concerns were wider than just the tyres.

Hundreds of tyres removed from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire 
Hundreds of tyres removed from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire  Hundreds of tyres removed from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire 

"This is just a story that is being spun - this is about the proximity of that bonfire, the scale and the massing of that bonfire next to a leisure centre within the car park of a leisure centre in which we have citizens from right across the city attending that leisure centre on a daily basis."

Ms Hargey said the council had received reports of intimidation at the site on Monday night, with the gates again closed off. She claimed firefighters were told they were not welcome when they responded to a small fire lit on the site.

"This is a concerning issue, it's a public safety issue," she said.

Men begin to build a new bonfire after removing material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire 
Men begin to build a new bonfire after removing material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire  Men begin to build a new bonfire after removing material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire 
A crowd gathers to watch men  remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men  remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men  remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men  remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men  remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men  remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men  remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire
A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire A crowd gathers to watch men remove material from a July 11th night bonfire at Avoniel Leisure Centre shortly after a Belfast City Council committee voted to send contractors in to remove material. Picture by PA Wire