The Connswater Community Greenway is a £32 million investment in East Belfast. The project has been developed by the East Belfast Partnership and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund, Belfast City Council and the Department for Social Development.

The Connswater Community Greenway will create a 9km linear park through East Belfast, following the course of the Connswater, Knock and Loop Rivers, connecting the open and green spaces and remediating the Connswater River itself. The Greenway will reconnect the communities of East Belfast and restore the rivers as community assests. It will create vibrant, attractive, safe and accessible parkland for leisure, recreation and community events and activities.

It will provide immediate benefit to the 40,000 people living in the wards adjacent to the river. Specifically, the Connswater Community Greenway will directly improve the living environment, reinstating a valuable amenity for local people and provide opportunities for improving health and well being. The Project will act as a catalyst for physical and economic development and improve access and connections for local communities to open spaces.

There are a number of open spaces along the course of the river which are underused because they are inaccessible, unsafe and unconnected to the communities in their hinterland. These people have turned their back on the river which is currently dirty and smelly and inhibits positive uses. This Project will deliver benefits from the Castlereagh Hills to Belfast Lough and beyond, turning a seriously underused, and at intervals, blight on the landscape into a community asset that will become an immediate living landmark.

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Flood Alleviation in East Belfast

East Belfast has a history of severe flooding with significant flood events having occurred on 12th June 2007 and the 16th August 2008. Following this widespread flooding, the Rivers Agency has been investigating potential solutions to reduce flood risk from the Loop, Knock and Connswater rivers.

The Rivers Agency is working in partnership with the East Belfast Partnership, to ensure an integrated design of any flood alleviation measures with the Connswater Community Greenway Project.

For more information on the Rivers Agency proposals to reduce flood risk in East Belfast, please click on the following link:

• Managing Flood Risk in East Belfast (PDF)