Plans have been put forward for Belfast's first major urban farm.

Local SDLP councillors Séamas de Faoite and Gary McKeown put the motion to Belfast City Council on Monday 03 February. This would see the proposed farm owned by the city's ratepayers.

Speaking before the Monday evening meeting, Cllr de Faoite said: "We have been contacted by a large number of constituents who have applied for some of the existing allotment space offered by Belfast City Council, many of whom have been told they could be waiting up to 14 years to claim their space.

-- Advertisement --

"With a growing focus on sustainability and resilience and the need for us to continue to cut our carbon emissions, urban farms and market gardening offer us an excellent opportunity to develop sustainable food production practices.

"Similar urban farming programmes like this already exist in cities across Europe like Brussels, where large sites like Beechvale have successfully supported hundreds of smaller market garden sites across the city."

Cllr McKeown added: "Urban farming aligns with the three pillars of sustainable development; they contribute to economic growth whilst boosting social integration and improving our environment and general health.

"Our proposal will take land that Belfast City Council already owns but isn't using and give it a sustainable purpose and use that has social value and offers an opportunity to involve the community and education sectors."

(CM)