This is only the third update and yet #SaveBotanicMeadow is already the Belfast-based petition that has received, by some considerable distance, the largest number of signatures - and (appropriately) it is growing! So, thank you for signing; thank you for sharing the word about the BCC decision and for sharing this petition. 

Response from local elected reps

Having got over the 2,500 mark (now 2750!), the signed petition was shared with elected representatives for the Botanic DEA and Belfast South constituency at the start of the week (i.e. 23 March). So far, all the parties have responded, bar one (Sinn Féin, but they'll surely rectify that soon).

In terms of what the others had to say, there are four main themes (though this is not to say that all concur on each of these points):

• A report on combining the UPSURGE environmental project with the permanent sports pitch is to be made to the original decision-making committee (Strategic Policy and Resources committee) 
• Concerns arising from the fact this decision was based on an unpublished strategy
• Acknowledgement of the environmental harm that would be caused by a floodlit, artificial/rubber crumb-filled pitch surface
• Recognition of legal and financial commitments to the UPSURGE project

It seems safe to say that the parties are leaning towards hope of a compromise (i.e. a grass pitch put on the meadow and the community garden moved elsewhere).

Why a compromise won't work

Although a compromise may sound like a mature way out of a difficulty (especially in this place), it is not so in this case because of two very obvious points: 

• A grass pitch is incompatible with both the problem and the solution, i.e.: 
  • (i) the nature of the site is flood-prone and industrially-contaminated, and
  • (ii) the need to be addressed is sports training, this requires year-round and evening use, which in turn require pitch surfaces and lighting to be suitable for wet and dark winters.
• UPSURGE investment into Lower Botanic Gardens was about nature-based solutions to climate change. It was thus not just about the community gardens; it included planting native wildflowers and grasses in the meadow and digging the flood alleviation ponds. To place any sort of pitch on that meadow denatures the renatured space. 

The meadow is yours

Well, this is clearly going to be a long haul. It will be worth it because we know what we have got and do not want it gone.

Updates will be shared here as and when there are a few things to report. In the meantime, please note that you can follow and support the campaign in various ways @BotanicMeadow, especially for you savvy social media types 

Going old school can be very effective too, of course, so please feel free to exercise pen upon paper to write to Belfast City Council and elected reps. 

Please visit our website (botanicmeadow.com) to find past and present photos of Lower Botanic Gardens, as well as more analysis of the pitch proposal. 

Events in the meadow are being planned for Spring/Summer (when we hope it might stop raining for a hot minute), which we'll share notices of via the various platforms. 

Thank you again.

Keep sharing the news, the petition and, needless to say, the meadow!