BONFIRE builders have been urged to give "cast-iron guarantees" against further pyres on the site of a new £40,000 taxpayer-funded community garden.
The west Belfast scheme is aimed at discouraging the annual construction of a loyalist bonfire that last year gutted several homes.
However, there are concerns that the new community space could be destroyed within months of its creation.
A row of terraced houses in the lower Shankill area was damaged last July when embers from the nearby pyre set their roofs alight.
Families had to be rescued and the repair bill for the damaged Housing Executive (NIHE) properties was £90,000.
Landscaping works are now underway at the Hopewell Square site to create the new community garden, which includes fresh plants and seating areas.
NIHE said the "environmental improvement works" follow a community consultation and are supported by residents and elected representatives.
A spokesman said: "The Housing Executive has never given permission for this land to be used as a bonfire site.
"A number of concerned residents impacted directly at this location wanted to discourage the bonfire. They worked with local elected representatives on proposals for better use for the land.
"Around £40,000 has been invested in the programme of work and it is estimated this will be completed by the beginning of March."
The DUP's Frank McCoubrey, who has been involved in discussions to redevelop the site, said he hoped the work would "give a wee bit of community spirit back".
"Maybe this is something that can work in the lower Shankill to prevent what happened last year. I think that really frightened people last year with the houses being damaged," he said.
However, the city councillor was unable to say if the new garden would prevent further dangerous pyres.
"Nobody is trying to take people's bonfires away from them. If people want to have a bonfire they will have a bonfire," he said.
"I'm not saying there is not going to be a bonfire, but I would hope that after last year it would be scaled down."
Mr McCoubrey added that the garden would not be a "permanent fixture".
"Everyone's ideal situation for that site would be to have more houses built on it, but while there is an increased demand for housing in the greater Shankill, that probably won't happen for a number of years," he said.
The SDLP's Alex Attwood called for an end to bonfires at the site.
"The bonfire last year created nuisance and damage," he said.
"Let everybody step up to the plate now. Let everyone give cast-iron guarantees that there are no future bonfires at or adjacent to this site. That is the least that good and decent people of this area deserve."
Alliance's Sorcha Eastwood also said: "Last year's incident must serve as a wake-up call for how bonfires are managed in future. When homes are destroyed, it is clear they can't continue as they are currently."
The Irish News revealed last week that a contentious loyalist bonfire site at an entrance to Belfast City Hospital is also to become a 'reflective garden space'.
The bonfire site – which in 2009 saw a 40ft-high blazing pyre topple onto the road – is the most problematic in the north for the fire service according to emergency call-out figures.
More than 300 bonfires were lit across Northern Ireland ahead of last year's Twelfth of July.
It has cost fire crews almost £670,000 to tackle Eleventh Night bonfires between 2010 and 2015.
