A petition has been launched to keep Belfast's new pedestrian core which was established in the wake of the Primark fire.
The Bank Buildings blaze devastated the city centre in August last year closing 14 businesses as a huge safety cordon was erected.
In response to falling footfall in the area, Belfast City Council launched a number of initiatives to bring people back into the city, including the ‘pop-up’ play park at Castle Place.
But on Wednesday, the council announced that it was time to remove the play park and move it to another part of the city as work started to reduce the cordon and reopen Castle junction to pedestrians and traffic.
The news with met with opposition on social media as many voiced their hope that parts of the city centre could remain pedestrianised as it had been a hit with shoppers.
Now, NI Greenways have started a petition, which has gained hundred of signatures in a matter of hours, urging the council and other agencies to reconsider their position calling the decision "unnecessary and wasteful".
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Jonathan Hobbs, from NI Greenways, said: "This is a real backward step, it was awful what happened to Bank Buildings but we recovered and were given an amazing insight of what a pedestrianised, family-friendly city centre looked like.
"Cities like Oslo and Madrid are actively doing this stuff and looking years ahead.
"I feel like we are going against the tide of how cities will be in the future. We had a fantastic opportunity and footfall seemed to be up."
He added: "There just does not seem to be any thought to say, 'Look at what has happened over the last six months and what can we work on'.
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"We can make it work for the city."
The council has said the space was used on a "temporary basis while the cordon, walkway and traffic diversions were all in place" and decisions around traffic flow are not made by council.
But in a statement on Twitter following the reaction on social media, the council said they were taking feedback on board.
It reads: "Thanks for all your feedback on Castle Place. Council does not have responsibility for traffic management in Belfast, and any plans to permanently pedestrianise parts of the city centre would be a decision for other agencies, including our statutory partners, the Department for Infrastructure.
"We are taking on board all your feedback however, and will share it with our city partners as we continue to look at ways to reimagine how our city centre spaces are used.
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"Following the fire at Bank Buildings and the resulting cordon, council and its partners took the opportunity to trial a number of projects as part of our city centre recovery work, including the pop-up park at Castle Place and upcoming activities planned for other locations.
"All your feedback and comments are being passed on as part of this ongoing work."
You can find out more about the petition and how to support it by clicking here .
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