Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (1834-1913) The Man Who With Edward Harland Built Harland And Wolff Belfast. The Remaining Cottages are wiped of Northern Irelands Shipbuilding Map We Ask Why? How is this allowed to happen Will Our MLAs Please Tell Us

This is what is  left of the Den on Station Road Sydenham Belfast the last remaining part of the history of the shipbuilding in Northern Ireland.The cottages that once stood on this land were bulldozed at 7.15 am on the  19th January 2009.The Residents Association fought long and hard to save the buildings for future generations, however as we the people of Sydenham should have by now realised our views are irrelevant,for to long people have done what they want within our community without asking the community what they want.

This is something different the Sydenham Community were not informed of the decision by The Northern Ireland Environment Agency as to their findings or the decision not to grant listed building status on the two cottages. We also question the departments decision to inform the owners without informing the Community of its decision.

The Residents Association are keen to work with all the government agencies to try and bring about change in the Sydenham area, but we find it hard to swallow when they totally ignore the people they represent,it is unthinkable a major government department would take this attitude. It is not unreasonable to ask why they did not keep the residents association informed of any decisions they were intending to make, this would have allowed us to enter into   talks with the owners of the site,  where we could have discussed having a permanent memorial for the founder of one of the largest shipyards in the world.

We want our government agencies to help us and involve our community when reaching  decisions and to direct and guide our communities in the way forward. We must ask the question as to how can we achieve this when we see a government department like the Environment Agency overlook the people who have ask them for guidance and  expertise. We only ask them to look at the site in question and give their opinion as to whether it  was worth saving and discuss with the community of its findings.

In our history we have seen what happens when government departments walk over communities treating them as if they do not exist. We in the residents association look to  government to work for the people who elect them and it is small communities like Sydenham and the residents association that are trying to bring real change to the area we look to government departments for guidance and help but our community feels it is irrelevant.The residents association  ask the question why has our MLAs let this happen.

How can we afford to let another part of our great shipbuilding history be wiped of the map. Do we need to look at the laws that govern historical buildings, or do we need a change of leadership at the top of the historical building unit before all of our history is gone forever. We look to other major cities all over Europe even the Soviet Union, Germany, have held on to their history but we seem to remove it when ever possible.