Dismay at failure to get money

Dismay at failure to get money

14 November 2018

DOWNPATRICK has missed out on a major funding programme potentially worth several hundred thousand pounds to help restore vacant and derelict buildings within the town’s conservation area.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council was hoping to secure financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a so-called townscape initiative, but its bid has been rejected.

A significant amount of time, effort and money had been invested in the application process but officials in charge of the heritage fund say the local authority’s bid was influenced by planned regeneration opportunities within the wider conservation area “rather than heritage need.”

Consultants who submitted the funding bid carried out extensive work which included an in-depth analysis of properties within the conservation area to determine how many were eligible for financial support. 

Appropriate schemes for buildings were also drawn up, with public consultations held with all relevant stakeholders.

The completed application was submitted last December. Funding officials visited the town in late February, but their decision to reject the council’s bid only confirmed at Monday night’s meeting of the local authority’s Enterprise, Regeneration and Tourism Committee.

While a number of bids were submitted for the dedicated heritage funding from organisations across the province, senior council officials say they are “extremely disappointed” that the local authority’s bid was rejected.

Funding officials argue there is limited scope within Downpatrick’s townscape initiative area to deliver a “comprehensive scheme” and believed that given development proposals for Irish Street and the town’s former police base, the local authority’s proposed scheme was “influenced by regeneration opportunities within the wider conservation area.”

New funding programmes will be launched in 2019 with the Heritage Lottery Fund encouraging council officers to speak with its development team.

News of the funding bid rejection comes a week after it was confirmed that Newry, Mourne and Down Council, in tandem with the Department for Communities, is financing a £700,000 environmental improvement scheme in Irish Street to provide new granite footpaths, lighting and street furniture. The work  is due to start next January.

In addition, the local authority is playing a key role in the drive to secure a multi-million pound town centre regeneration initiative in Downpatrick which will result in the redevelopment of the former Irish Street police station site and a number of adjacent empty properties to provide a new retail and commercial centre.

Marks and Spencer, Home Bargains and several other big names are reported to be interested in investing in Downpatrick, but have been unable to identify suitable accommodation.

Confirmation that the bid for Heritage Lottery Funding to help transform Downpatrick’s conservation core has been unsuccessful has been described as “disappointing” by South Down MP Chris Hazzard.

He is planning to find out more details about why the bid was  not supported and aims to meet with senior council officials to plan a way forward.

“The news is disappointing to hear. Obviously, there has been a lot of work undertaken planning the redevelopment of Irish Street in Downpatrick, with government departments taking the lead in purchasing land and making that available for redevelopment,” he said.

“I am disappointed this particular application has not been successful and over the coming days I will be meeting with council officials to find out where we go from here.

“Irish Street is an important part of the town with a residential area intersecting with an important retail location which is also an important heritage area, alongside other parts of Downpatrick.”

Mr Hazzard said the rejection of the funding bid suggested that the local authority needed to go back to the drawing board and think abut where it goes from here.

Downpatrick councillor Dermot Curran said it was essential council officials meet with Heritage Lottery Fund representatives to discuss what went wrong with the bid and start planning to make a fresh application in the New Year.

“A cash injection to help redevelop vacant and derelict properties in the town centre area would have provided a timely boost for retailers and shoppers alike. I hope a fresh funding bid will be successful,” he added.