Belfast Transport Hub

Translink, the Department of Regional Development, and others, are aiming to create a class leading integrated Public Transport Hub in Belfast at the existing 20 acre site of the Europa Buscentre and Great Victoria Railway Station. It represents a major investment by the Northern Ireland Executive and will include integrated bus, coach and rail operations as well as commercial outlets. Around 7 million passengers already use these facilities each year and as more people choose to use the bus and train this is estimated to increase to around 13 million passengers by 2030.

Issues Encountered

• Preparation of a structured programme of communication and engagement
• Promotion of the operational, economic, environmental and social benefits of the project
• Garnering widespread awareness and support for the project locally and nationally including developer interest and awareness
• Ensuring all stakeholders are fully engaged and supportive of the project particularly in light of any potential local concerns over changes to the immediate area or employee concerns

Our Involvement

We advised on the drafting of an initial stakeholder engagement and communications Masterplan for this project including identification of key messages, stakeholder audiences (political, residents, business, education, infrastructure etc.) as well as outlining various communication methods and rationale.

Further to this, we also drafted a Public Consultation Report on Phase 1 of the public consultation exercise taken forward by Translink. This involved the collation and analysis of a number of surveys which had been carried out, presentation of overarching themes expressed by respondents and, in line with new statutory requirements, areas where the public consultation should be taken into account in the future design of the scheme.