Waste site for Hightown?

NewsletterCaring for the Hills, their Wildlife and People

www.belfasthills.org

Arc21, the umbrella waste management group for 11 councils in the eastern region of Northern Ireland, plan to build two new types of waste facility.One is Energy from Waste (EfW) or a waste incinerator. EfW recovers heat and electricity by burning waste that is not suitable for recycling. To use this energy efficiently, these facilities are often sited close to housing or other developments. Also planned are a number of Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities. Arc21 has begun a major procurement process to install anything from one to three plants.An MBT system is a form of waste processing operation that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting. MBT plants are designed to process mixed household waste as well as commercial and industrial materials.The massive contracts to build and run these facilities should attract the attention of international companies, cost many millions and would be expected to run for a minimum of 25 years.

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An MBT type facility

Issue 7 | Spring 2009

Step in Time We hope readers will enjoy our new heritage feature that will reveal interesting anecdotes, people and places from days gone by in the Belfast HIlls.The regular column which we unveil in this spring edition of the Newsletter is part of a brand new heritage project for the Hills.Of course, we’d love to hear of your knowledge of the Belfast Hills as part of our research for the study. So please write, call or email us if you feel you could contribute to this exciting project.

Read on and take a Step in Time...

THe healing waters at colin wellColin Well was a site of pilgrimage well into the 1800s and the healing waters were renowned for their miracle cures.Located at the south eastern slopes of Colin Mountain, Colin Well attracted thousands of people with all manner of diseases and pains, for well over 100 years to bathe in its life-giving spring.A stone bathing house was erected at the site and designed to let the full force of the stream fall on the person inside. Midsummer night was a time when young people gathered at Colin Well to bathe and socialise.

The Belfast Hills Partnership has been approached about the possible siting of a waste facility in the Hightown Road area.It is part of arc21 plans for handling our black bin waste and is a move away from putting our refuse into landfill.Made up of 11 council areas in the eastern region, arc21 is seeking to install an Energy for Waste (EfW) - or incinerator - and at least two Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities.The private sector will submit bids for the construction and operation of these facilities. Belfast City Council is also consulting with ratepayers about whether to

have such waste facilities at Dargan Road on the North Foreshore.Householders have seen big changes in the last few years in recycling and waste collection brought about by the introduction of European Union regulations.It is clear that the current consultation attempts to tackle the potentially contentious issue of where the EfW facility will go.Less clear are the alternatives if the North Foreshore site is removed as an option.The Belfast Hills Partnership will be doing its utmost to ensure that any facilities put in place are the best in terms of our environment, local people and the Hills.

Farmers don’t beat around the bush - when it comes to nature!

Farmers aren’t ‘hedging’ their bets when it comes to encouraging a rich array of wildlife in the Belfast Hills. And many in the local farming community don’t beat around the bush - digging in to plant new hedges recently with native species of bush and tree. These vital hedge habitats will provide new homes for wildlife. In the Belfast Hills most of the mature trees are found in hedges and provide nesting and perching posts for birds.Hedges are a source of shelter not only for agricultural livestock but for a whole host of wildlife. They provide refuge for countless types of plants, insects and small mammals. Unfortunately the Belfast Hills has lost many of its hedges over the years, often due to exposure to wind and other elements. Lack of management and inappropriate cutting regimes can also result in gaps and breaches in hedges containing biodiversity-rich deciduous trees. The Belfast Hills Partnership has produced a poster about field boundaries that comes with a

booklet issued by the Department for Agricultural and Regional Development (DARD). The leaflet aims to provide hedge-planting farmers with some additional encouragement and advice on how to plant hedgerows and look after them.If you would like to obtain information on hedgerows and other field boundaries please get in touch on 028 9060 3466. Lyle Hill Young Farmers planting

hedges in the Belfast Hills

Rural Development Programme rolled outBrave hearted farmers were not put

off by the cold of February when they

queued – many sleeping out overnight

– to access funding under the new Rural

Development Programme (RDP).

And for the first time, farmers in the

Belfast Hills community can access these

European rural funds to be delivered

over council areas that take in a sizeable

region of the catchment in the Hills.

Farmers living in the council areas of

Lisburn, Belfast, Castlereagh, Antrim,

Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus

qualify for the cash.

The new programmes have yet to be

finalised but are likely to work across the

following aspects of rural development:

Farm diversification

Creating and supporting rural micro

enterprises

Rural tourism

Basic services for rural communities

Village regeneration and rural

heritage.

The new campaign was launched in

January to further promote the 2007

– 2013 Rural Development Programme

and the opportunities that it has to

offer.

If you think you would be interested in

rural development projects and wish to

find out more, go to the RDP website

http://www.dardni.gov.uk/index/rural-

development/rdp-campaign.htm

or contact your local council. We will try

to keep our website updated with the

latest news about this programme.

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Get a healthy new you this spring

Get with the green team and get trim in the outdoor gym by walking or running in the Belfast Hills!Walking is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of enjoying the outdoors, keeping fit and getting at one with nature. Walking not only makes us feel physically well and gets rid of those extra pounds but also helps our

mental and emotional wellbeing. It’s also a great social activity with friends going walking together. And just like going to the top gyms, on offer is a range of ‘cardiovascular and

conditioning’ walking opportunities in the Belfast Hills. But unlike a credit crunch munching £35-£80 monthly fee, the public sites in the Hills are absolutely free to use. Take advantage of our public tours – they’re free too - to find out new and exciting routes into the Hills.Just pick up our 2009/2010 events programme or contact the Belfast Hills Partnership for a leaflet and we’ll post your passport to health to you.The new leaflet comes with a handy healthy walking guide (right). From yummy mummies with buggies, dude dads with little junior, families needing to jump out from under the Xbox or people who simply want to get back to enjoying some exercise – there’s a walk to suit all.And don’t let the word ‘hills’ put you off - there are many grades from the very easy to more challenging to choose from. Keep an eye on our website for updates about facilities and also have a look at walking distances so you can keep going further and get fitter.

Events Programme

www.belfasthills.org

Don’t let the word ‘hills’ put you off - there are many grades from the very easy to more challenging to choose from.

The Belfast Hills Partnership would also be delighted to take walking groups to introduce them to the sites – free of charge! So get your friends, work colleagues or community group together and discover walking the hills and a new and healthy you.

Contact the Belfast Hills Partnership on 028 9060 3466. Check out www.belfasthills.org

Events

It’s a bumper 2009 for our events programme!

Get your hands on this year’s events programme which is bursting with even more expert guided walks in the Belfast Hills with the emphasis on fun!And to find out about our great range of free tours and other events, simply phone us and ask to have the events guide posted to you – hot off the presses and in time for the Easter holidays. Its handy new design means you can open up the leaflet to poster size

and put it on your wall at home. So you’ll have no excuse not get out and discover the Belfast Hills!This year’s itinerary is also packed with lots of exciting things to do and see around the Hills including a bilberry picnic on Divis Mountain.Other events will make the best of getting out and seeing woodland flowers in spring, orchids in summer and the colours of autumn in places like Hazelwood and Carnmoney Hill. There is no shortage of activities for all the family with the launch of our first geocaching extravaganza – with caches active all through July. Other ways to stop the family brain drain over the summer holidays will be a fun-filled orienteering evening at Cave Hill in July.May the volunteer force be with you if you dare to take part in our Exterminate All Aliens day at Colin Glen. Wipe out invasive species plants that threaten our native habitats, or help clean up the lovely slopes of Cave Hill with the Cave Hill Conservation Campaign in May.

From our firm favourites like the bus tour of the Hills to more walks to keep you fit, healthy and happy, there’s an event for you.

And 2009 has gone cosmic when it comes to new routes. The Divis Mountain to Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park Nature Trail is now underway. And to mark the upgrading of the 10km path, the Belfast Hills Partnership is hosting a fundraising day in September. So complete the route and become one of the first to do so!From our firm favourites like the bus tour of the Hills to more walks to keep you fit, healthy and happy, there’s an event for you.Find our more about this year’s events at www.belfasthills.org and click on the ‘events’ section.

Events Programme

www.belfasthills.org

Marathon man vows to move mountains for Belfast HillsNew Chair is welcomed to the Partnership

Former Sports Council man Danny O’Connor has taken over the helm as Independent Chair of the Belfast Hills Partnership and he’ll be moving mountains in his pledge to forge “managed and sustainable” benefits for the Belfast Hills. The new chairman is also the Chair of Belfast City Marathon, Vice Chair of North Belfast Play Forum and Commissioner to the Irish Basketball Association.

After three years of sterling work, Ken Patterson has passed the mantle to Danny who comes from a sports and recreation background. “Ken Patterson has overseen the establishment of a firm foundation. Upon this, the Partnership, its directors and members can move forward to create a greater awareness of the Hills as a community resource and over time, develop them for managed and sustainable use,” said Danny.

We all know great flower power comes from bluebells which makes many spring woodland walks such a special event.But there is a range of other woodland plants sharing some ‘thief-like’ characteristics with bluebells.Growing under trees is not easy, but they are experts in ‘stealing’ most of the light and water needed to cope and thrive in a woodland environment.The first trick is to grow and flower as early as possible. That is before the trees have had a chance for their leaves to sprout and spread their all-enveloping shade. That’s why most of our woodland flowers appear so early. The leaves of lesser celandine first start opening in January. Most others such as bluebells, wood sorrel, wood anemone (pronounced ‘an enemy’) wild garlic and primroses follow on from March to May. Thus they will have flowered and set seed by the summer when the woodland is in dark shade.Our spring flowers also enjoy increased light when a tree falls or if they grow at the woodland edge. The less specialised ones can even hang

on for years after woodland has been felled.Removal of invasive sycamore at Hazelwood on Cave Hill means in the near future there will be a wonderful bloom of woodland flowers in the open patches.The profusion of flowers will remain for a few years before the leafy canopy grows over again.

Carnmoney Hill has a couple of open fields with a carpet of bluebells. Lucky for them the Woodland Trust has replanted these up so they just have to hang on for another 10 years before they’re back under tree canopy

again. Parts of Cave Hill also have large patches of wood anenomes far away from any trees – a clue to where old woodland and scrub once stood.There are a few even more specialised plants which must have woodland cover to survive. Sanicle within Hazelwood and bird’s nest orchid and toothwort along the Colin Glen valley are strong evidence that these are ancient woodlands.If a new woodland was planted it could take many decades for the more common bluebells and primroses to appear. But it could take hundreds of years before the latter highly specialised wildflowers would establish.All the more reason to hang on to our rare woodland.

Dr Jim Bradley

Partnership Manager

The flower power in our woodlands

The first trick is to grow and flower as early as possible. That is before the trees have had a chance for their leaves to sprout and spread their all-enveloping shade.

Clockwise from far left: toothwart, bluebells, birds nest orchid and wood anenomes growing in the Belfast Hills.

Heroes of the Hills

It’s your Belfast HillsContact the Belfast Hills for help and advice with any concerns or questions regarding the hills, their wildlife and people. Also, let us know what you would like to read about in future newsletters.

Charity No: XR70288 Company No: NI053189

Address: Belfast Hills Partnership, 163 Stewartstown Road, Belfast, BT17 0HWTel: 028 9060 3466 Fax: 028 9030 9867 Email: info@belfasthills.org www.belfasthills.org

The North West Mountain Rescue Team look after the safety of walkers in the Belfast Hills.

The Belfast Hills are relatively safe which means there’s rarely any need for these hardy bunch of mountain rescuers. However the Hills can be exposed to rapidly changing weather conditions.So when out walking it is reassuring to know that if a situation arises – no matter how many precautions you have taken - there is a highly trained and expert team that protect the public as they walk the summits of the Hills.These guardians of the Hills are men and women who give up their free time to help save those in peril on our mountaintops.There are 50 active members – volunteers who are ready to mobilise should a situation arise.Eastern Section looks after hills like Divis and the Black Mountain, Cave Hill, and the areas surrounding the city.Volunteer Han Fisher explained the job while on a training exercise recently on Divis.“If we get a callout, it is the Eastern Section that will be out on the hills to search for casualties. But we can also call on other members of the team that look after the rest of Northern Ireland.“We are tasked to a call by the police and we go from there – getting on

the scene and working out plans. We must often walk great distances to find casualties, so they will always be hypothermic for which they need treated.”Trained in first aid, the mountain rescuer must always be prepared for any eventuality.

“The first thing I think of when I get a callout is, ‘oh gosh, I hope I have all my gear packed’. Then we are on the scene, receive a brief and work out a search area. We then get an idea of what to expect from the condition of the casualties. A lot of it is planning ahead to be able to put up shelters and provide extra food.”Han hopes the outstanding safety record on the Hills continues, but he has a word for the wise. “We encourage folk to go out and use

the Belfast Hills, but we’d recommend appropriate footwear, clothing, maps and compasses if needed, along with the ability to use them,” said the mountain rescuer. www.nwmrt.org

“The first thing I think of when I get a callout is, ‘oh gosh, I hope I have all my gear packed’.”

Han Fisher