Farrans, Environmental Leadership | Business in the Community

Farrans

Farrans Construction is an established building and civil engineering contractor with operational interests throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe. Its business is structured in to two primary divisions: Building and Civil Engineering.

Background

Farrans continues to develop excellence in all aspects of building and civil engineering while at the same time the boundaries of service level delivered to its customers are continually being extended. At the heart of this approach is the recognition of its wider social responsibility.

What Farrans did

Farrans has a strategic vision to achieve the highest standards of environmental management, making a positive difference to the surroundings in which it operates.

A key project realising this vision is the recently completed Connswater Community Greenway; a project with specific focus on enhancement of a neglected, unattractive and polluted river channel in East Belfast, now transformed into a 9km ‘Living Landmark’ of continuous parkland, cycle and walkway.

Impacts and Outcomes

The project has helped to create a bright new future for East Belfast bringing social inclusion, environmental benefits and new investment to the area. The Greenway not only delivered successful environmental outcomes, it also created substantial levels of social benefit in the local area improving the lives of over 40,000 people through:

  • 16km of continuous cycle and walkway for commuting and leisure
  • Seven new and five refurbished bridge crossings over the Connswater, Knock and Loop Rivers, connecting people and places
  • Public Realm works creating an event space for up to 2,000 people
  • New amenities including two new play parks and MUGA pitches
  • Local businesses are already seeing the benefits from increased tourism and investment with over 1,000 visitors a day to the C.S Lewis Square, an area once described as a ‘no go’ area by the PSNI, now a hotspot for ‘Hop on, Hop off’ bus tours

For more information, please email: vjohnston@farrans.com