The Palmerston Residents Association have been in contact with the Education Board since 20th March2008 we were informed at the time the Board intended to close the Sydenham Youth Centre, as the Centre is situated on the Palmerston Road the Association felt it should have been consulted regarding the decision of the Board,the association have always taken a stand for the Community it represents. Our Constitution is founded on the basis of principals we will not go back on. We stand up for our Senior Citizens,our Disabled Community, our Youth,and our Ethnic Community.
The Palmerston Residents Association have always fought long and hard for the rights of the community, which is Sydenham in entirety, not as it is known by our officials as Sydenham One, Sydenham Two,and Sydenham Three, our community spreads to the whole of our community and that is Sydenham. We are proud of it and its history, we believe that our politicians and government founders should wake up to this, Sydenham is a community that has been ravaged by developers and by groups who act for our community who do not live here and do not see what their decisions do to our community.
We have ask the Education Board since the 20th March 2008 how it reached its EQIA under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and how it carried out the consultation process to ensure all communities in the area had been consulted, how the information was presented to them and in what formats. Was the consultation process in accordance with the Guiding Principles set out by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, the main groups to section 75 categories Religious Belief,Political Opinion,Racial Group,Gender,Marital Status,Age,Persons with a Disability,Persons with Dependants, Sexual Orientation.
Our community should be consulted on how a public building that has cost tax payers money to build is to be disposed off. The Education Board has a duty to the community to fully consult with them before any action is taken to dispose or relocate a public building. We feel the Sydenham Community has not been properly consulted on this issue we have ask the Education Board many many times to hold an audit in the area, to enable them to find out what youth provision is required in the Sydenham area, and to look at groups from the disabled community, the Ethnic Community and people of different faiths. We felt that if groups where excluded it would sore up problems for our community in the long term.
The Residents Association would refer to the Education Boards letter of the 22nd July 2008 SM/CMcQ in its summary Paragraph 5, It is the view of the board that any adverse impact as a result of closure of the Sydenham Youth Facility was mitigated and therefore did not require an Equality Impact Assessment. We would also refer the board to its response to the Palmerston Residents Association under the heading 'Audits in the Area for Purpose of Closure' states I am unclear what you mean by audits in the area for the purpose of closure' I am unaware of any audits conducted in the area for the purpose of closure in these circumstances for this or any other BELB building. The original purpose of closure was to protect the health and safety of the staff and the users is a legal matter and is not an issue on which the BELB could or would consult local residents.
The Residents Association feel that if the building was closed on the grounds of health and safety to protect the staff and the users why then did it fail to disclose to the residents association what type of asbestos was in the youth centre and if it was that serious of a threat why were no hazard warning signs displayed around the outside of the building warning our community of the dangers that lay with in. We also requested in our letter to the Board 5th August 2008 to supply us with what measures have been taken to safe guard the public from entering the building and causing damage to the Asbestos.
The Residents Association has in its procession an audit that had been carried out in the area under the heading Sydenham Youth Audit Commissioned by East Belfast Area Youth Project and Strand Presbyterian Church. We refer to our letter of the 5th august 2008 under the heading 'Audits' we ask was the Boards Decision to relocate to Strand Presbyterian Church influenced by this audit. We refer to the Boards letter dated 10th October 2008 where it states the boards decision to relocate its services was explained in previous correspondence and was in no way influenced by the audit carried out by Converge.
The Residents Association feel that if any audit should have taken place it should have been screened under section 75, we feel the audit that took place for Strand Presbyterian Church should have been screened for the purpose of section 75 to make sure it had covered the main groups relevant to the section,the association feel the Education Board should have carried out an audit in the area to include all categories in section 75. The association are concerned the youth in the area who may not want to attend church will fall through the net,we feel this issue will not go away and it must be fixed before the youth in the area feel they have been sidelined.
The Residents Association meeting with the Education Board was in a response to their letter of the 10th Oct 2008 as it stated it wanted to meet with us once more. We ask the board to carry out an audit in the area to enable it to realise what youth provision was needed in the area, we also refer to their letter of the 10th Oct 2008 where it states the youth service in Belfast,in tandem with the other four education and library boards,will shortly be advertising a new registration process as the result of an equality impact assessment of the registration and grant aid schemes.This will be an opportunity for youth groups,including section 75 groups highlighted in your letter,to register with the board with the possibility of accessing future funding. The association is pleased by this statement but it fails to put right the wrong.In not consulting the community before it relocated its youth club to Strand Presbyterian Church when it could have relocated it to mobile classrooms in the area until proper assessments under the risk of asbestos be carried out by an independent assessment by the Health and Safety Executive
The Residents Association said before the meeting that it would not discuss with the board issues we have with the board in the management of the Asbestos, and why they deemed this building surplus to requirements due to the health and safety issues when other youth clubs have been upgraded. Health and safety issues in another building cost the board for security because it was damaged by fire and was deemed to be demolished, but then reprieved for further assessment. We can assure the board that we do not intend to let the issue drop until youth provision in the Sydenham area is audited under section 75 to include all groups who live in our community. We would also ask if the board carried out an audit in the area that covers all these groups would you please produce it to enable the residents association to close this issue.
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