Calls to upgrade town centre area

Calls to upgrade town centre area

24 April 2024

A PLANNED upgrade of one of the main roads into Downpatrick town centre is an “absolute necessity,” a senior politician contends.

Plans are being finalised for the next stage of a £220,000 scheme to revitalise Church Street and nearby De Courcey Place off English Street.

The Department for Communities scheme is designed to regenerate both areas which, over recent years, have missed on central government funding.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council – which is also heavily involved in the project – has been discussing the planned investment with business community representatives, with the options for regenerating De Courcey Place including new seating and lighting and the provision of additional planters.

New bus shelters have already been provided in Church Street, in tandem with a mural of Downpatrick rock band Ash and various shop front improvements, with the work designed to improve the gateway entrance to the town centre.

But South Down MLA Colin McGrath says more needs to be done.

He said the Church Street upgrade must be a priority for statutory bodies to assist the regeneration of Downpatrick.

He said while many businesses have been doing their best to bring new life into this part of the town, he believes the statutory bodies need to give more attention to this essential route.

“When people make their way to Downpatrick from Belfast, the first image they get of our county town is uneven road surfaces, potholes and a number of run down buildings in Church Street,” said Mr McGrath.

“This is not the image we want to present.”

The Assemblyman received a recent update from the local authority on the Church Street scheme and ongoing consultation for the public realm investment.

“The scheme includes putting overhead services underground, installing new pathway services, replacing street lighting columns, new street furniture, trees and planting. This would be a very welcome development for the area and I look forward to seeing this progress.”

But McGrath said this scheme alone is not enough to breathe that new life into this part of the town.

He has called for Church Street to be resurfaced and believes the investment would deliver a route into Downpatrick worthy of the county town

Significant investment has been pumped into Market Street, Irish Street and Scotch Street over recent years, with Church Street the poor relation when it came to so-called public realm schemes.

Politicians are delighted this has changed with Church Street and De Courcey Place in need of regeneration.

Politicians agree the revitalisation scheme provides a platform on which to build for the future and hope that business and property owners will be encouraged to spend some of their own money on their respective properties to make them even better.