Belfast Chamber Welcomes £10 million Revitalisation Scheme

Belfast Chamber has welcomed the announcement by the Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín of the creation of a £10 million Revitalisation Scheme to help towns and cities across NI invest in measures to assist in the recovery from COVID-19.

Commenting, Belfast Chamber Chief Executive Simon Hamilton said, “This is a very positive announcement by the Communities Minister and will be welcomed by towns and cities across the region who, like Belfast, have been dealing with the devastating impact that COVID-19 has had on our economy.

Belfast Chamber has been calling on the Executive to create a NI version of the Future High Streets Fund that has operated in GB for some time and this Revitalisation Scheme is a step in the right direction and is an indication by Ministers that they appreciate the pressures facing our city and town centres. We need to work together to ensure our high streets survive the threat they currently face and we would encourage the Executive to create a task force to allow us to pool our collective efforts towards rejuvenating our city and town centres.

This scheme will allow cities and towns to invest in capital improvements that will help in making them more attractive destinations. At present, maintaining a clean and safe environment is also crucial and Belfast Chamber would call on the Executive to further financially support Councils to, for example, enhance street cleaning, provide more hand sanitising stations and improve public toilet provision”.