Police declare site a major incident

The police have declared a “major incident” over a contentious bonfire in south Belfast as they consider a request from Belfast City Council to help contractors remove it.

On Wednesday, a council committee voted in favour of a proposal to send in contractors to remove the bonfire.

There had been concerns that the power supply would be put at risk at Belfast City Hospital and the Royal Victoria Hospital because the bonfire lies near a major electricity substation between the Donegall Road and the Westlink.

Separate concerns centre on the presence of asbestos at the site and the council voted to write to the environment minister to act immediately to have it removed.

The bonfire is due to be lit on Friday as part of the Eleventh night celebrations.

Bonfires are lit annually in some unionist areas across Northern Ireland to usher in the Twelfth of July, the main date in the parading season.

On Wednesday night, the Police Service of Northern Ireland ( PSNI) said no decision had been taken on assisting the removal of the bonfire and they continue to work with partner agencies and community representatives on this matter.

Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan has called for the police to help ensure the bonfire is removed safely.

He said he did not know exactly when it would be removed.

Sheehan said it was “clearly a health safety issue” and there was a “danger to residents, children and patients”.

Social media pictures showed a car had been parked across the gates to the site on Wednesday night.

A council spokesperson said members of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee decided to approve the use of a contractor to remove bonfire materials from the site at Broadway Industrial Estate.

Members also decided that the council would write to the minister of agriculture, environment and rural affairs to seek assurance that the NIEA will fulfil its obligations in relation to the site.

Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson has said he plans to bring legal action to stop the bonfire being dismantled and has questioned the decision making process behind the vote.

TUV councillor Ron McDowell said he was supporting Mr Bryson’s plan and claimed that the process of the council meeting was “procedurally improper”.

Belfast Health Trust said the bonfire is near a substation that supplies both hospitals.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) said it was first alerted to the issues around the bonfire on 16 May and had been engaging with the landowner and the city council regularly since then.

“An inspection of the site was carried out, an enforcement investigation was initiated and the agency engaged the landowner to ascertain how the asbestos material could be removed from the site and, if that could not be done by July 11, on the mitigating measures that needed to be put in place,” it said.

Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) said it had expressed concerns over the bonfire’s “proximity to the substation causing potential risk to critical infrastructure and power outages”.

The trust said it had contingency measures including back-up generators and it was confident there was no need to cancel any planned treatments or procedures.

On Tuesday, NIE said it had put mitigations in place, including turning off the transformers adjacent to the bonfire, building scaffolding with metal sheeting around the transformers and placing steel plates on open cable ducts to reduce the risk of fire and damage.

However, it warned there would be “a reduction in security of supply” for the area.

“We would remind the public that flames near to power lines and electricity substations pose serious risk to everyone’s safety and wellbeing,” NIE added.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said in a statement it had put in place mitigations “over the past week including the further covering of the asbestos containing material, the use of fire-retardant material and the erection of additional fencing”.

It added the department was in ongoing contact with Belfast City Council.