The SDLP Opposition has said that unspent Stormont lending, known as Financial Transactions Capital, should be used to resuscitate the derelict site in Belfast known as Tribeca.

In a motion on Monday, the SDLP Opposition will call on Executive ministers to explore options for developing the site, which extends from the edges of Royal Avenue to St Anne's Cathedral, but has been allowed to fall progressively into dereliction as developers have failed to progress their plans.

The area is now an eyesore, attracting anti-social behaviour, costing the city millions in rates revenue and detracting from one of the main hospitality and cultural hubs of the entire North.

The motion calls for ministers to engage with Belfast City Council on options to be developed after decades of neglect - including the creation of a Laganside-style development corporation which could be used to develop the site and make use of Stormont's unspent Financial Transactions Capital, a type of funding which can only be used for certain types of transaction.

Leader of the Opposition Matthew O'Toole MLA said:

"We are open minded on how Tribeca is dealt with but the current situation is untenable and unacceptable. One of the most vital sites in the city has been abandoned to dereliction and no one seems to have a plan for dealing with it. The developers are either unable or unwilling to progress it, meanwhile one of the most historic parts of the city, which includes the fabled Assembly Rooms, so significant in the history of enlightenment Belfast, is being allowed to fall into rack and ruin. Alongside it, our hospitality and cultural highlights in the rest of the Cathedral Quarter are being let down by this appalling dereliction and we are losing millions in rates revenue.

"The SDLP Opposition wants the Executive to work with Belfast City Council to grip this problem and allow us to benefit from the huge opportunities of a revitalised enlightenment district.

"If the site is vested, we could deploy unspent Financial Transacitons Capital (FTC) to deliver a new future for the site, with the Laganside Corporation offering some kind of precedent for how the structure might work. There are limitless economic, cultural and social benefits for the city to realise.

"If Ministers feel this isn't the right approach, they and Belfast City Council should explain their alternative. The status quo isn't defensible any longer."