Local beach gets deserved facelift

Local beach gets deserved facelift

30 September 2015

WORK has been completed to address flooding problems at the car park at Kilclief beach.

The work was undertaken recently by Newry, Mourne and Down Council whose staff also improved access to the beach as well.

The improvement work was identified by the Kilclief Residents’ Association in its village plan and the completed work has been welcomed by the group’s chairman Maurice Denvir.

Thanking councillor Cadogan Enright for ensuring the car park flooding and beach access issues were addressed, he explained access to the beach was difficult for small children, the elderly or anyone who was disabled. 

He continued: “The small collection of dunes on Kilclief beach were being worn away by the large number of visitors and needed protection.

“Palisade fencing which has been provided will help the dunes recover while making access to the beach safer.

“We are clearly making progress with several aspects of Kilclief’s village plan at the moment and the improvements to the beach are positive steps that we need to build upon. We hope to bring forward a dune restoration project during the winter to ensure that the long-term deterioration on the beach is fully reversed,” added Mr Denvir.

The Residents’ Association is also working with the Strangford Community Association and Ben Dearg/Kilclief GAC to bring the Mournes Coastal walking route to the area, linking the beach to both villages and other facilities in the area.

Meetings were arranged by councillor Enright to ensure the local community had an input to what was being planned and is pleased with the recent work at the car park and to improve beach access.

“As the council had machinery on-site to sort out the long-standing flooding problems at the car-park, I was pleased I was able to persuade management to deal with some of the issues on both Kilclief and Caffery’s beaches. These changes had been sought since the Kilclief village planning process finished at Glebe House last year,” he explained.

Councillor Enright added: “Whilst all this work will assist the local economy and build up the tourism trade in East Down, the primary focus is on delivering a better, safer and more enjoyable environment for local people.”