Annual Report

April 2011 to March 2012

COMPANY INFORMATION Directors J Austin W Andrews G Best J Blaney J Palmer G Campbell L Frazer M Dobson T Enright C Hamill R Thompson D Kinahan - Co-opted I McDougall J McMullan – Co-opted (Treasurer) T Russell I Simpson Independent Chair D O’Connor Company Secretary J Bradley Company Number NI053189 Charity Ref no XR70288 Auditors RSM McClure Watters

Number One Lanyon Quay Belfast BT1 3LG

Bankers First Trust Bank 2/4 Finaghy Road North Belfast BT10 0JA Solicitors Cleaver Fulton Rankin 50 Bedford Street Belfast BT2 7FW

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT It is my pleasure to bring another positive report to the Board this year after what has been a momentous year for the Belfast Hills Partnership. After many years of continuous effort as a small charity, we have finally managed to make a substantial leap towards becoming a larger organisation with the resources required to meet many of the real needs of the Belfast Hills. This has been due to the previous years of work in securing major funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Landscape Partnership Scheme and a range of our existing and some new partners. We can now deliver an ambitious body of work across the themes of natural and built heritage, engaging local communities, access and training. Securing such additional funds in such trying economic times has been quite an achievement and one for which all of our funding partners deserve our sincere thanks. Following on from this, the Belfast Hills Landscape Partnership Scheme began in early 2012 with recruitment and induction of four new staff, expansion of office space, furniture and equipment – a positive and very busy time for all of our staff. We look forward to seeing the results of their work as the scheme continues over the coming years until 2016. These major changes go well beyond a mere increase in staff numbers, it also marks the expansion of the Partnership’s active work into new areas such as built heritage, oral history and industrial site restoration. This has required the broadening of expertise within our Board, sub-committees and staff and even more links with new bodies, communities and partners. The dogged way in which we pursued what may have been viewed as small successes over the early years is finally paying off in terms of the perception that we are an organisation that can deliver and good potential partners. The next years will be our opportunity to prove that this is the case and continue to deliver and expand.

Let us not forget that, during this expansion, the key elements of our ongoing work were also delivered. A successful series of events was held throughout the year which, combined with our website, Facebook and Twitter expansion, has brought more and more people interested in the hills into our network. Work continued on substantial numbers of planning proposals, consultations and many new community site development plans where our input has been sought. Our ongoing programme of surveying and data gathering to help improve how the hills are managed was expanded in terms of sites, species and habitats. One particular area of work which became very high on everyone’s agenda in 2011 was that of wildfires. Many areas in Northern Ireland suffered as never before from this dreadful menace in spring 2011. The Belfast Hills, however, remained comparatively unscathed, certainly compared to the previous year. The fact that we have been working on this issue since 2006 means that we are now in the forefront of tackling this threat. We are in regular contact with a range of bodies as well as the Fire and Rescue Service to assist in areas such as site mapping, community engagement and training of their staff. None of the above would have been achieved if it was not for the exceptional commitment of all of our staff, our volunteers, those on our Board and all the other partners who have put their shoulder to the wheel. As our work, our contacts and partnerships expand, we should be aware of the difficult issues which remain to be solved in the hills and the potential for the Partnership to become stretched in terms of our financial and staff resources and the expectations we have built up. The Partnership has exercised wisdom in managing these to date and I am sure that we will continue to focus on more key successes in the years to come. I commend this report to the meeting Danny O’Connor

PARTNERSHIP MANAGER’S REPORT Our work during 2011-2012 has split into two distinct areas – the formation of our funding bids for the implementation of our Belfast Hills Landscape Partnership Scheme (LPS) and the continued expansion of our key core work including planning, community projects, surveying, research and biodiversity improvements. The work involved in the LPS development phase included substantial consultation and research, but if I could highlight just one example of this work it would have to be the archaeological dig at Ballyaghagan Cashel within Cave Hill Country Park.

This took place in October over two weeks, involved over 400 school pupils and community group members, all getting actively involved in literally digging up new information about the Belfast Hills to support our bid and also throw new light on just one of our enigmatic built heritage sites in the hills. The enthusiasm this involvement has generated means that we have a growing body of interested people who want to become directly involved in the hills as volunteers, in continuing education or just as visitors. In the latter stages of the year we secured and initiated the second implementation phase of the Scheme, taking on new outreach, volunteer management, project

and administrative staff to deliver a host of new projects between now and 2016. We have continued to expand on our ongoing core programme of surveying and data gathering to help improve how the hills are managed. This covered aspects such as fly-tipping, species surveys such as for butterflies, newt and lizard, habitats and areas such as grassland and post-industrial sites, and specialised surveys such as for the Phytophora ramorum disease in our Japanese Larch stands which continues to be of real long term concern. Added to this, we have created a partnership with iSpot, a website which lets people upload photos of wildlife they have seen in the hills but can’t identify and which experts then identify, often within hours. This has added to our knowledge of what’s in the hills as well as further involving local people. Our mapping of wildfires and our detailed 2008 Heathland Survey meant that we could start to build up a picture of what is happening and to a degree predict those areas at most risk – a vital help to the Fire and Rescue Service and site managers. This mapping of areas at risk was one of three projects carried out through the Challenge Fund in early 2012, the others being the planting of new and replacement hedgerows in the southern

end of the hills and also the creation of a Belfast Hills Interpretive Audit and Plan, vital to the development of how information is provided to the increasing numbers of visitors to the Belfast Hills, from simple directional signage to detailed information panels and viewpoints. Substantial numbers of planning proposals were investigated, particularly for wind turbines which meant that we had to update our policies to strike a balance between the needs of our landscape and those wanting to make both our energy supply and land management more sustainable. We have played active roles in developing key policy directions such as Belfast City Council’s Growing Communities strategy, and are now represented on the Belfast Tourism Forum. Other key consultations have included the Hannahstown Village Renewal Plan and “Glen 10”, the proposed development masterplan for the urban fringe area between Glen Road and Upper Springfield Road. All of these have great potential to have substantial impact on the future of the Belfast Hills.

To aid our development work in such areas, we have managed to secure work and student placements to research such aspects as mapping of river systems flowing from the hills and the communities living along them, factors affecting risk of wildfires and patterns of housing in the hills during the 18th and 19th century. One of our student research projects, completed in the previous year on the potential for quarry restoration, also won a prestigious award for the quality of this research. These research projects continue to be a vital resource in answering key questions of great relevance to our planned work. Finally, the combination of our events programme, social media and press work, publicity about our projects, involvement and assistance with local community projects and the growing awareness about our hills, their value and the issues they face has meant that we have seen a great increase in the goodwill and willingness of local people to get actively and positively involved which I believe will be key in achieving our ambitions in the years to come.

BELFAST HILLS PARTNERSHIP 2012-2013 WORK PLAN Introduction These work areas arise from the 2010-2013 Business Plan and the Landscape Partnership Scheme Action Plan 2012-2016. They represent primarily the project work to be carried out beyond our core functions such as our ongoing event programme, press and public relations, planning responses, board meetings, administration, volunteer work etc. The coming year is a momentous one for the Partnership, during which Stage 2 of our Landscape Partnership Scheme gets fully up to speed. In 2012-2013 we will:- BIODIVERSITY 1. Carry out further detailed surveys and possible habitat improvements in Colin Valley area based on last year’s grassland surveys field work. 2. Repeat grassland surveys with an emphasis on butterfly and moth populations, this year in Ligoniel area. 3. Carry out species survey work across the hills such as bat and lizard surveys. 4. Repeat our NI Countryside Butterfly Survey work. 5. Continue to carry out invasive species mapping and control along the Colin Glen River and widen to include sites such as Ligoniel. 6. Encourage and support student biodiversity research projects in the Belfast Hills. 7. Prepare work for a River Awareness Project, firstly at Colin River. 8. Identify key urban fringe wildlife sites and draw up proposed biodiversity advice, support and project work plans on both a site by site and overall urban fringe basis. 9. Initiate Farmland and Grassland Improvement Project with farmers and landowners. 10. Initiate tree and wildflower planting projects at Black Mountain Quarry and Carnmoney. 11. Carry out wildfire surveys as they occur and publicity work.

12. Create improved Wildfire Site Maps and Plans in partnership with NIFRS. 13. Carry out a BioBlitz event at Cave Hill and plan such events for following years. 14. Draw up methodology for Assessment of Wildfires on Skylark and Meadow Pipit breeding populations. LANDSCAPE & HERITAGE 1. Initiate Stage 2 of Landscape Partnership Scheme. 2. Hold a Heritage Festival in July. 3. Begin oral history work. 4. Compile and display mobile heritage exhibition. 5. Initiate a Hannahstown area townland heritage project. 6. Install a Cave Hill Heritage Seat. 7. Begin local volunteer archaeology survey training. 8. Create Living Landscape webpages to highlight current information and planned work. 9. Carry out detailed survey of key built heritage sites to inform future conservation works and production of a sites and monuments field guide. ACCESS AND RECREATION 1. Revise and update our Recreation Development Plan in collaboration with key partners. 2. Install key new paths, signposting and associated infrastructure at Divis, Cave Hill, Slievenacloy and interpretation signs at Carnmoney Hill. 3. Provide an OS walking map and guide, other recreational guides and internet information to increase public awareness of the Belfast Hills. 4. Install Junior Orienteering Trial at Cave Hill. 5. Continue to publicise the importance of the hills for health and healthy walking. TOURISM 1. Work with partners to ensure Belfast Hills is recognised as an increasingly important element of the local tourism product in terms of heritage, wildlife and countryside access.

2. Assist partners to install and improve visitor survey systems. 3. Install key Welcome signage, innovative interpretation and viewpoints for visitors. 4. Actively identify, train and promote approved guides for the Belfast Hills. SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 1. Publicise, encourage and provide advice on RDP funding. 2. Publicise our audit of small businesses in the Belfast Hills. 3. Work with NIEA to reduce illegal landfilling in the Belfast Hills. 4. Monitor and report flytipping including consequent invasive species stands. 5. Work with and fund farmers and landowners to undertake practical biodiversity improvements. 6. Repeat Japanese Larch surveys for signs of Phytophora infestation. 7. Encourage sensitive quarry restoration where appropriate. 8. Publicise issues for working farmers and landowners via schools and talks 9. Assist with Hannahstown Village Renewal Project. PLANNING AND CONSULTATIONS 1. Continue to respond to relevant planning applications, consultations and Planning Appeals. 2. Encourage developers to discuss projects with BHP staff pre-application. COMMUNITY & QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES 1. Continue to support and advise local community groups on site development and management such as allotments, recreation and open space sites. 2. Expand our events programmes substantially including festivals. 3. Continue to lobby for improved public transport throughout the Belfast Hills. 4. Prepare work for a Hills Apprentice Project to allow engagement with young people about the hills. 5. Continue to lobby for an improvement to the roads system and seek commercial

traffic management systems for all major new developments. 6. Involve people with a local oral history project. 7. Involve trained volunteers with archaeological surveys. 8. Provide a range of skills training and equipment to support further volunteer involvement in managing the hills. CORPORATE 1. Complete our review of the BHP Operational Area. 2. Continue to investigate alternative sources of income in order to become more sustainable in the long term, such as Grundtvig programmes, sponsorship of Newsletters and Events. 3. Encourage more people to be involved through volunteering and our Friends Group. 4. Continually identify and research best practice, innovation in information provision and awareness raising. 5. Encourage research projects to be carried out in the Belfast Hills. 6. Draw up our 2013-2016 Business Plan and secure NIEA, Councils and other funding for BHP up until 2016.

BELFAST HILLS PARTNERSHIP INCOME & EXPENDITURE 2011-2012 2012 2011 £ £

GROSS INCOME 198,769** 163,362

GROSS EXPENDITURE 194,404 146,946

SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) 4,365 16,416

YEAR END RESERVES 63,211 58,846

** This summary is based on the External Audit Report for 2011-2012 carried out by RSM McClure Watters. (See full Audit Accounts for details).

PARTNERSHIP STAFF & DIRECTORS

Staff Dr Jim Bradley Partnership Manager Dr Lizzy Pinkerton LPS Manager

Andrea McKernon Communication and Information Officer (PT)

Claire Martin Admin Officer Post (PT) Rose Muir Hills Project Officer (PT) Aine Brennan LPS Admin Officer (PT) Fred Harris Volunteer Officer Jo Boylan Outreach Officer David Scott LPS Project Officer

Independent Chair

Danny O’Connor Directors The Directors on the Board and the bodies to which they belong are as follows: COMMUNITIES / USERS Communities

Bill Andrews – Shankill Communities Jim Blaney - Glen Road Environmental Action Group

Local Conservation Groups Terry Enright - Black Mountain Environment Group Cormac Hamill - Cave Hill Conservation Campaign Recreation Groups Ian McDougall – Northern Ireland Sports Forum

LANDOWNING / MANAGING Farmers

George Campbell - Ulster Farmers Union Ian Simpson - Ulster Farmers Union Local Economic Tracy Russell - Belfast Hills Waste Management

Operators Quarries Gordon Best - NI Quarry Products Association Nature Conservation Mike Dobson - The National Trust

STATUTORY Cllr. Roy Thompson - Antrim Borough Council Cllr. Janice Austin - Belfast City Council Cllr. John Palmer - Lisburn City Council Cllr. Lynn Frazer - Newtownabbey Borough Council

Treasurer

John McMullan (Co-opted Director)

The mission for the Belfast Hills P

Provide a practical and integratemechanism for the Belfast Hillcontributing to the conservatioenhancement of its natural, buheritage and providing for respcountryside enjoyment.

Contribute to the quality of life ofthe fringes of the Belfast Hills,the area and to the wider urbaenvironment.

Work in partnership with others trealisation of the Belfast Hills Belfast Hills Sustainable Deve

artnership is to

BHP MISSION & OBJECTIVES

d management s thereby n, protection and ilt and cultural onsible

communities on rural residents of n & rural

owards the vision, within a lopment Initiative.

Core funded by: Antrim Borough Council Belfast City Council Northern Ireland Environment Agency (Department of the Environment) Lisburn City Council Newtownabbey Borough Council

The strategic aims of the Partnership are to

Conserve, protect and enhance the natural, cultural and built heritage of the Belfast Hills.

Encourage individuals, communities and organisations to care for the Belfast Hills.

Raise awareness of the value of the Belfast Hills and of issues relating to their protection.

Manage existing recreational use of the Belfast Hills.

Support and assist farmers and landowners under pressure from urban development, and from inappropriate forms of countryside recreation.

Contribute to the economic regeneration of communities in the Belfast Hills and adjoining city.

Contribute to a positive image of Belfast, Lisburn,Newtownabbey and Antrim through an attractive, well managed and functioning visualbackdrop to these areas.

9 Social Economy Village, Hannahstown Hill, Belfast BT17 0XS Tel: (028) 90603466 Fax: (028) 90309867 Email: info@belfasthills.org www.belfasthills.org

Has been kindly supported in 2011-2012 by: