‘Farcical’ Belfast street sign policy under fire again as Japanese application deemed invalid

The “farcical” nature of Belfast’s street sign policy has been highlighted further after it emerged a request for Japanese signage considered by the council was not made by a valid applicant.

The controversial policy was adopted by Belfast City Council in 2022, making it easier for residents of a street to apply for bilingual signs.

The vast majority of applications have been for Irish language names to feature alongside English on the signs, while a growing number are also requesting Ulster Scots.

However, last year it was discovered that the council has been tasked to deal with applications for a range of other languages.

The Irish News revealed applications had been made for signage in Japanese, Mandarin/Chinese and Hebrew.

It has since emerged the council is now also processing applications for signage in Greek and German.

Under the pre-2022 policy, a third of a street’s residents were required to back a request to survey the rest of the occupants on a new bilingual sign. If two-thirds supported it, then it would move forward for approval.

The new policy means just one resident of a street, a local elected councillor or a new street’s developer could trigger the residents’ consultation, and the overall threshold for approval has been lowered to 15%.

The applications for international languages was last year slammed as “ludicrous”, with the DUP questioning the time and money spent by the council on dealing with applications unlikely to meet the threshold.

Applications were made for signage featuring Japanese to be erected in two streets – Chichester Gardens in north Belfast, and Kings Drive in the east of the city.

The Chichester Gardens application will not progress further. It has been confirmed the applicant behind it was not valid, meaning they did not reside in the street.

As of this week, the Kings Drive application is still live, but there is no further progress beyond its submission.

Meanwhile, a Mandarin/Chinese application for North Parade off the Ormeau Road was closed as an application for Irish signage in the street was approved.

Benmore Drive, in the Finaghy area, is one of three streets with a live application for Hebrew signage, but a previous application for an Ulster Scots sign there will be considered first.

Another Hebrew application, for Ebor Street in the loyalist Village area of south Belfast, is on hold due to a previous application for Irish language signage.

All applications are dealt with in the order they are received.

TUV councillor Ron McDowell said: “The whole process has been made a mockery of, with a range of street signs in diverse languages.

“It’s farcical, and with some applications it’s looking like a free-for-all that is descending into chaos.”

DUP councillor Ruth Brooks said the problems in the process have been made “absolutely clear”, and said of the invalid application: “Here is yet another example of why this policy, which the DUP have opposed, is seriously flawed.”

A spokesperson for Belfast City Council said the dual language policy “was approved by Council”.