BESIDE loyalist Sandy Row, the empty Hope Street site has become the annual venue for a massive and controversial loyalist bonfire.
This frustrates Bob Stoker, head of the South City Resource and Development Centre, who said multiple applications to develop the site from within the community over the years have been turned down - a claim the Housing Executive rejects.
Nearby, Sandy Row Boxing Club - which gives young people in the area a positive outlet - is facing eviction as its building is up for sale.
Mr Stoker previously served as the Ulster Unionist Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1999-2000, later contesting the 2015 general election for UKIP as he felt unionist parties were ignoring people on the ground.
Retiring from active politics to focus on community work, his organisation works to relieve the social pressures for people in the Blackstaff Ward of Belfast - covering Sandy Row, Donegall Road, Tates Avenue and the Village areas.
The work includes debt advice services, pre-school activities, lunch clubs and help for the elderly.
Speaking to The Irish News after a violent week of rioting and racist attacks in areas like Sandy Row, Mr Stoker said most people in the area were disgusted by the ugly scenes that included business owners having their premises destroyed.
“I would say there’s a mood of despondency in the Donegall Pass, Sandy Row and the Village that we are being blamed for a very small minority of people,” he said.
“The vast majority of people have genuine concerns, they’re not right-wing extremists.
“They’re ordinary, decent, hard-working people. They can’t get houses, dentists, an appointment with a doctor.
“We’re not blaming any group of people, we’re blaming the structures of governance because these issues are not being addressed.
“But these messages are being lost because of the violence. We’re all just being classed as right-wing thugs which is far from the truth.”
He said that community groups witness real disadvantage first hand, and that loyalist communities “are short of real leadership”.
Although there is support for community groups from Belfast City Council and the Department for Communities, he said improving things on the ground still remained “an uphill struggle”.
He said the potential loss of Sandy Row Boxing Club’s premises was the latest example.
“The building has been put up for sale and the community has absolutely no way to compete with the private sector in the purchase,” he said.
“So yet again, community representatives doing a fantastic job getting young people off the streets and giving them a future. They’re just thrown to the winds.
“It’s another nail in the coffin of community support.”
For years, he said the concerns that community groups in south Belfast were highlighting were not about immigration, but health, education, employment and housing.
“I just look at the Hope Street site in particular. Around 500 houses were demolished there around 1971,” he said.
Accusing the Housing Executive of “a lack of will” to develop the site, he said “feasible plans” from the community over the years including using it as a football pitch or for social housing have been rejected.
“The community are desperate because nobody is listening to what they want to see happening,” he said.
On this issue, the Housing Executive published an update in March with proposed plans to build more social housing on the site, with planning discussions ongoing with Belfast City Council and aims to appoint a developer by July 2025.
Recently, a BBC interview with a man on the junction of Sandy Row and Donegall Road went viral as he openly expressed his dislike of minorities and watched with indifference across the street as a business man sorted through the rubble of his burned out supermarket.
“He was not reflective of the vast majority of the people. We’re not all tarred with the same brush,” said Mr Stoker.
“We’ve had ten enquiries this morning about various welfare and housing issues, five of them were from migrant families.
“If we were racist and turned them away, there would be an outcry and quite rightly.
“Community organisations don’t see people of colour and different religions sitting in front of them.
“They see people who need support.
“The Indian community here have used our own facilities for family gatherings and birthday parties.
“They’re welcome in the same way as anyone who wants to host a celebration.
“Nobody hears about these things or gives the community credit. Everyone prefers to focus on one interview with a racist,” he said.
“Good news doesn’t sell papers, we know that. But somebody needs to look at the very positive work that takes place.”
