March 30 2023. Work has started today to fence off all of Belle Isle Circus and will be completed in April.
Residents of Belle Isle, particularly those living close by, have asked for Belle Isle Circus to be fenced to prevent quad bikes and cars from driving across it for some time. It is an issue that is very important to a significant proportion of our community. It concerns them because of safety, noise, and damage to the area.
The total cost of the fencing is less than 1% of the total repair and investment budget, and is being spent from savings in our costs during the Covid period, when we weren’t running the events and providing the services that we normally provide. We are spending over £900,000 on insulating homes in the next two years – about ten times the cost of the fence – and we will continue to invest in this work. We have also provided warm home packs through our Community Fund, a warm space for tenants to have a free meal, hot drink, use the computers and charge their devices. We work with our tenants to access financial support to help them with their utility bills.
As a tenant-managed organisation we are led by the needs and priorities of our community, and all our spending is subject to approval and scrutiny by our tenant board.
As you may know, criminals cut a section of the fence out and stole the metal. To do this they needed professional cutting equipment and a van to take the metal away. If you see anyone cutting the fence in future, please call the police on and BITMO on 101 and BITMO on 0113 378 2188.
