Opinion

Leading article: Bonfires cannot be built just anywhere

The site of the controversial bonfire on the Bloomfield Walkway in east Belfast in previous years
The site of the controversial bonfire on the Bloomfield Walkway in east Belfast in previous years The site of the controversial bonfire on the Bloomfield Walkway in east Belfast in previous years

After yet another summer which has seen controversy and raised tensions around bonfires, it is important that steps are taken to prevent similar scenes next year.

Many of the Eleventh night pyres which are erected cause no major issues and in some areas beacons have been used as a way of celebrating unionist culture without damaging property or causing environmental harm.

However, as we know, a number of bonfires have proved contentious and in recent years we have seen concerns over towering structures which have posed a threat to homes, such as the one at Chobham Street in east Belfast and another close to a block of flats in Sandy Row.

July this year saw a stand-off at Avoniel leisure centre, a Belfast City Council owned property, where efforts to remove an illegal bonfire were abandoned after graffiti aimed at intimidating contractors appeared nearby.

The PSNI also expressed concern at the involvement of the UVF saying the organisation had cynically used women and children in an attempt to put the police into a dispute with communities.

In 2016, Stormont set up the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition to find ways to address issues including bonfires but it has yet to agree a report and with the institutions suspended, it is difficult to know when we may see any recommendations being published never mind implemented.

In the meantime, it is left to the various statutory bodies, including local councils, to try to resolve what is a recurring problem.

There are signs that some creative thinking is being applied to this issue.

As we reported yesterday, £190,000 has been spent on landscaping works at Bloomfield Walkway in east Belfast, previously the site of a contentious bonfire linked to the UVF.

In previous years, families have been forced to leave their homes and a newly built play park was moved at a cost of £6,000.

The improvement works have brought new benches, better lighting and resurfacing, with flat grassland replaced with hummocks.

While local councillor Jim Rodgers is insisting the work had nothing to do with preventing bonfires, he and others are making it plain that pyres will not be welcome on the newly improved site.

Hopefully we are seeing a growing recognition that enormous bonfires cannot be built just anywhere, regardless of safety or environmental considerations or the views of the local community.