a partnership approach
a plan shaped by many
This Masterplan isn’t just our vision, but that of everyone who has a stake in the future of Belfast Harbour as a port and an estate. We spent two years consulting with port users, estate tenants, independent industry experts, statutory bodies and the public to shape our plans.
Creating a Draft Masterplan was the first major step in developing our final Masterplan document. This was based on extensive consultation – begun in 2024 – with a representative set of our port users, whose feedback was combined with the views of our tenants. We also engaged with many institutions whose work enables ours and whom we, in turn, support.
We also engaged independent experts to provide an objective and empirical view on planning for our future. Collectively, these learnings helped shape the priorities of the Draft, and provide a sound basis for the development of our final Masterplan.
Following the publication of our Draft Masterplan in November 2025, we launched an 8-week public consultation process. As well as gathering feedback via an online survey, and an ongoing display at our Harbour Office headquarters, we held a number of ‘drop-in’ events around Belfast, offering the opportunity to meet with our Masterplan team and hear in more depth about the proposals being considered.
Our engagement process provided highly consistent feedback, with 95% of those who responded expressing strong support for our direction and vision, with the remaining 5% seeking operational clarification rather than challenging the vision. Political support was also strong, with our Masterplan being endorsed by all main political parties and by Belfast City Council – helping us to establish a clear mandate to deliver upon for the future.
Find out more about the formal feedback we received at belfast-harbour.co.uk/consultation
