Victoria (District Electoral Area)

Victoria
District Electoral Area

Map showing Victoria wards within Belfast
Area  20.2 km2 (7.8 sq mi)
Population 36,607 (2008 Estimate)
   – density  1,812/km2 (4,690/sq mi)
DistrictBelfast City Council
CountyCounty Down
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
UK ParliamentBelfast East
NI AssemblyBelfast East
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Down

Victoria was one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1985 to 2014, when it was mostly replaced by the Ormiston district.[1]

Located in the east of the city, the district elected seven members to Belfast City Council and contained the wards of Ballyhackamore; Belmont; Cherryvalley; Island; Knock; Stormont; and Sydenham. Victoria, along with wards from the neighbouring Pottinger district and Castlereagh Borough Council, formed the Belfast East constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.

The district was bounded to the west by the Victoria Channel, to the north by Belfast Lough, to the northeast by North Down Borough Council, to the south and east by Castlereagh Borough Council and to the southwest by the Newtownards Road.

History

The DEA was created for the 1985 local elections as the successor to the former Area B, which all seven wards in the new Victoria had been part of. An eighth ward, Bloomfield, which had been in Area B, was placed in the new Pottinger electoral area. It will be abolished in 2015, having made way for the new DEAs that were used for the 2014 local elections. It will largely be replaced by the new Ormiston District Electoral Area. Five of Victoria's wards joined Ormiston, with the Sydenham ward and the areas which had been part of the abolished Island ward becoming part of the new Titanic District Electoral Area.

The district contained many key pieces of Belfast's transport infrastructure, including George Best Belfast City Airport and the eastern portion of Belfast Harbour. The area is served by the Bridge End and Sydenham railway stations and the A2 and A20 major road routes. The district is also home to Parliament Buildings, the meeting place of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Victoria was once the site of much of Belfast's heavy industrial manufacturing facilities, however these have suffered a significant decline since the mid-twentieth century, although companies such as Short Brothers and Harland and Wolff continue to have significant operations in the area.

The wards were redrawn for the 2014 elections and Victoria was replaced with the Ormiston district.[2]

Former BCDR mainline

The Belfast and County Down Railway had a mainline through Knock railway station which linked Belfast direct to Downpatrick railway station as well as to Newcastle, County Down, there was also the branch from Comber railway station to Newtownards and Donaghadee. The minline opened in 1850 was closed in 1950 by the Ulster Transport Authority.

Titanic Quarter

The Titanic Quarter is a major economic and cultural regeneration programme that is centred on Queen's Island and the former Harland and Wolff shipyard. The project has seen the construction of new hotels, apartment blocks and business facilities, with a number of high-profile relocations, including the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The area has also become a centre for learning and research with the opening of the Northern Ireland Science Park, in addition to Belfast Metropolitan College moving one of its key city centre campuses to the Quarter, while Queen's University Belfast have also located their Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) within the Science Park. The Quarter's name comes from the RMS Titanic which was constructed in the old shipyard, with a number of projects aimed at exploiting the tourism value of the Titanic's connection to Belfast, including the Samson and Goliath cranes used to construct the ship and the Paint Hall.

Other Amenities

The RMS Titanic, built in Belfast by Harland and Wolff.

Other amenities in the Victoria district electoral area include:

Wards

Parliament Buildings, Stormont
Map Ward Population
(2011 Census) 		Catholic Protestant Other No Religion Area Density NI Assembly UK Parliament Ref
1 Ballyhackamore 5,939 17.2% 68.2% 1.9% 12.7% 1.15 km2 5,164 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East [3]
2 Belmont 6,165 8.6% 80.6% 1% 9.8% 1.79 km2 3,444 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East [4]
3 Cherryvalley 5,920 14.5% 75.3% 0.8% 9.4% 1.99 km2 2,975 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East [5]
4 Island 5,014 13.9% 69.8% 4.6% 11.8% 3.81 km2 1,316 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East [6]
5 Knock 4,827 9.1% 79.7% 1.2% 10% 1.12 km2 4,310 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East [7]
6 Stormont 5,548 12.9% 75.6% 1.3% 10.2% 7.04 km2 788 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East [8]
7 Sydenham 4,874 9.9% 76% 1.8% 12.3% 6.24 km2 781 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East [9]
Victoria 38,287 12.4% 75% 1.7% 10.8% 23.14 km2 1,655 /km2

Councillors

Odyssey Arena, a major entertainment complex
Election Councillor
(Party) 		Councillor
(Party) 		Councillor
(Party) 		Councillor
(Party) 		Councillor
(Party) 		Councillor
(Party) 		Councillor
(Party)
2011 Mervyn Jones
(Alliance)		 Laura McNamee
(Alliance)		 Robin Newton
(DUP)		 John Hussey
(DUP)		 Andrew Webb
(Alliance)		 Jim Rodgers
(UUP)		 Tom Haire
(DUP)
2005 Naomi Long
(Alliance)		 Wallace Browne
(DUP)		 Ian Adamson
(UUP)		 David Rodway
(DUP)
2001 David Alderdice
(Alliance)		 Alan Crowe
(UUP)
1997 Danny Dow
(Alliance)		 Alan Crowe
(Independent Unionist)
1993 John Alderdice
(Alliance)		 Tommy Patton
(UUP)
1989 A F H Montgomery
(UUP)
1985 Oliver Napier
(Alliance)		 G P C Thompson
(Alliance)		 William Corry
(UUP)		 Dorothy Dunlop
(UUP)

2011 Elections

Samson and Goliath gantry cranes
See also: Results of elections in 2011; 2005; 2001; 1997; 1993; 1989 and 1985.
Belfast City Council elections, 2011[10]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
DUP Robin Newton 2,338
Alliance Mervyn Jones 2,319
Alliance Laura McNamee 1,677
DUP Tom Haire 1,437
UUP Jim Rodgers 1,355
Alliance Andrew Webb 1,137
UUP Ian Adamson 942
PUP Robert McCartney 908
DUP John Hussey 812
Green (NI) Ross Campbell 315
UUP Stephen Warke 216
SDLP Magdalena Wolska 207
TUV Sammy Morrison 158
Independent Roy Hobson 142
style="width: 5px; background-color: ₴#REDIRECT Template:Northern Ireland Conservatives/meta/color;" data-sort-value="Conservatives in Northern Ireland" | NI Conservatives Garry Crosbie 103
Turnout 14,066
Alliance gain from Ulster Unionist

See also

References

 Castle Belfast Lough North Down Borough Council
Castle Victoria
   Victoria  
Pottinger
Laganbank		 Castlereagh Borough Council Castlereagh Borough Council

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