Newcastle loses leisure centre bid

Newcastle loses leisure centre bid

29 October 2014

PLANS for a new £7m leisure centre in Newcastle are “dead in the water” for at least another five years.

The leisure centre project, earmarked for the site of the former St. Mary’s Girls Primary School, has been ped from the capital development programme of the new Newry, Mourne and Down super council which has been the subject of intense debate in recent months.

It is now accepted within the new council that the Newcastle scheme has “been put on the long finger” and it is likely to be well into the next decade before the doors open on a leisure centre in the resort.

And in a double blow this week it has emerged the existing Newcastle Centre is in urgent need of refurbishment which is likely to cost well in excess of £500,000. The condition of the building is viewed as so serious that a report is being drawn up identifying sports clubs, church halls and schools which could be used to host events if the centre has to close.

The new council has inherited a huge number of capital projects from Down and Newry and Mourne Councils and senior officials have warned that to implement them all would mean an enormous rise in the rates.

Strict rules have been put in place which must be satisfied before a project gets the go-ahead. The planned Newcastle scheme meets few of these rules, particularly as Down Council has yet to acquire the favoured site at the former primary school.

Down Council is trying to buy the former school site from the St. Patrick’s Parish for a sum believed to be in the region of £500,000. That bid continues to stand but if it is accepted by the parish, the new super council will have to give its approval before the deal can be sealed.

One Down official said the Newcastle project is “off the radar.”

“It’s dead in the water,” he said. “We don’t even have the site, let alone a design and with so many other projects vying for attention, the Newcastle leisure centre has been shelved.”

“Down Council has missed the boat,” he added. “There is massive pressure on the new council because of the number of capital projects in the pipeline and many are being put on the long finger, including Newcastle.

“This pressure means it will likely be at least 2019 before the project is even considered again, and there is no guarantee it will go ahead even then.”

There has been huge debate in a series of behind-closed-doors meetings of a super council working party which has been tasked with drawing up the capital development programme. Compromises have been reached between councillors in Down and their counterparts in Newry and Mourne which have meant certain projects have been approved and others ped.

The £15m Down Leisure Centre, a £4m Saintfield Community Centre and the extension of the Market House in Ballynahinch have been accepted by Newry and Mourne councillors while Down councillors have backed plans for a major new super council headquarters in Newry similar to the Downshire Civic Centre in Downpatrick.

However, when Down councillors pushed the Newcastle project they came under pressure from Newry politicians who questioned the feasibility of building a swimming pool in Newcastle when there is a new pool currently being constructed in Newry, a new one planned for Downpatrick and an existing pool in Kilkeel.