Heritage-led urban regeneration funding discussed

Belfast was the setting today for a meeting aimed at developing a bid for European funding to encourage heritage-led urban regeneration.

Representatives from Gothenburg, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Norwich and Belfast are meeting at the Waterfront Hall today and tomorrow to discuss the bid.

The meeting follows on from previous presentations to INHERIT - set up to look at how best to use heritage to lead the regeneration of historic cities - of heritage success stories, such as St. George’s Market and the Gasworks site.

Councillor Eoin Ó Broin, Chairman of Belfast City Council’s Arts Sub-Committee, voiced his enthusiasm for the meeting.

“Belfast City Council has been raising awareness of the importance of our built heritage in the city’s regeneration for the past five years," Mr Ó Broin said. "Our membership of this European network is helping us to take this commitment to the next level - by learning about good practice in heritage led regeneration and about marketing Belfast as a historically important city.

"This meeting is particularly pertinent as we look at the importance of how we preserve and enhance our built heritage to boost the development of the Cathedral Quarter and other cultural quarters in the city.”

Belfast will be represented at the INHERIT meeting by officials from Belfast City Council and potential INHERIT partners, the Queen’s University of Belfast School of Architecture and the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society.

The INHERIT Network was set up to look at how best to use heritage to lead the regeneration of historic cities, as well as identifying funding opportunities for heritage based development programmes since Spring 2003.

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