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)
District	Belfast City Council
County	County Down
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	Belfast East
NI Assembly	Belfast 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.

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.

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

Main article: Titanic Quarter, Belfast

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:

• Ashfield Boys' High School
• Campbell College
• The Comber Greenway, a 7-mile (11 km) traffic-free section of the National Cycle Network, along the old Belfast-Comber railway line
• HMS Caroline
• Holywood Exchange, a major retail development
• Odyssey Arena, a major entertainment complex
• Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, Knock
• The Oval Stadium, home ground of Glentoran F.C.
• Stormont Estate

• Dundonald House
• Stormont Castle
• Stormont House

• Strandtown Primary School
• Strathearn School
• Wilgar Park, the home ground of Dundela F.C.

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
2	Belmont	6,165	8.6%	80.6%	1%	9.8%	1.79 km2	3,444 /km2	Belfast East	Belfast East
3	Cherryvalley	5,920	14.5%	75.3%	0.8%	9.4%	1.99 km2	2,975 /km2	Belfast East	Belfast East
4	Island	5,014	13.9%	69.8%	4.6%	11.8%	3.81 km2	1,316 /km2	Belfast East	Belfast East
5	Knock	4,827	9.1%	79.7%	1.2%	10%	1.12 km2	4,310 /km2	Belfast East	Belfast East
6	Stormont	5,548	12.9%	75.6%	1.3%	10.2%	7.04 km2	788 /km2	Belfast East	Belfast East
7	Sydenham	4,874	9.9%	76%	1.8%	12.3%	6.24 km2	781 /km2	Belfast East	Belfast East
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
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
	Conservative	Garry Crosbie	103
Turnout			14,066
	Alliance gain from Ulster Unionist

See also

• Belfast City Council
• Electoral wards of Belfast
• Local government in Northern Ireland
• Members of Belfast City Council
• Belfast Victoria (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
• Belfast Victoria (UK Parliament constituency)