Strangford row blows up over fence proposal

Strangford row blows up over fence proposal

20 August 2014

SIMMERING tensions in Strangford have exploded this week over plans by Down Council to fence off part of the Lower Green.

An increasingly acrimonious dispute which has been bubbling for some months came to a head on Friday when workmen arrived in the village to begin work on the 1.2 metre high railing fence.

Angry members of Strangford Community Association (SCA) intervened and asked the contractors not to begin work because the village festival is due to take place this week and the Lower Green is a key location for activities.

The contractors agreed to carry out work in other locations but are expected to return to carry out the Strangford work after the festival.

The dispute arose earlier this year when Down Council unveiled plans for a refurbishment of the Lower Green as part of the Mourne Coastal Route, a tourist initiative designed to encourage visitors to follow a signposted route from Belfast down the Ards peninsula, along the Lecale coastline and into the Mournes.

New seating, a cobbled area and planting are in the council’s Lower Green plan but significantly much of the grass area will be enclosed by the railing fence.

However, the SCA has its own plan for refurbishing the Lower Green, drawn up after the group received funding from the Down Rural Area Partnership. While similar, the major divergence from the council plan is the fence which in the SCA plan only extends around part of the grass, leaving open the area closest to the village.

The SCA claims that fencing the entire green will mean large boats can no longer be launched down the public slipway and the annual funfair will not be able to use the Lower Green.

However, the council claims the SCA plan to leave unfenced part of the Lower Green will funnel children towards a busy junction and will be significant road safety problem. The council says its plan will allow the continued launching of boats and the Lower Green will be able to be used for future festivals.

Diarmuid Riordan, chairman of Strangford Community Association, angrily accused council officials of “deceiving” the Strangford community by entering into negotiations about Lower Green while putting their own plan out to tender.

“We thought we were in discussions with the council about the future of the Lower Green and then suddenly the contractors turn up ready to close up the green and begin the work,” said Mr. Riordan.

“They even arrived just a few days before the village festival was due to get underway which would have been a disaster as the Lower Green plays a key part in the event.

“The contractors were reasonable enough to move off to carry out work in other areas but the tender they were awarded by the council includes the Lower Green so they will be back,” he added.

“The SCA is the democratically elected community association which speaks for the village and we are being bulldozed by a council which is pushing ahead with a plan which will see, for example, the cutting down of mature cherry trees.

“If the council gets its way the Lower Green will no longer be used to launch boats, as it has done for decades, and the funfair will not be able to take place here. If we cannot launch boats, as we always have, it will lessen significantly the village’s links with the sea,” said Mr. Riordan.

A Down Council statement said full and proper consultation was carried out with community groups and the public in Strangford and said no work or fencing of any deion will be carried out prior to this years village festival.

“Down District Council has been working very closely with elected members from the Strangford area, the SCA and other local community representatives and have reviewed and amended the proposed project works to ensure it is as fair a representation as possible,” said the statement.

“As part of the plan there will be a 1.2 m railing around part of the green, which will not impact in any way on the launching of boats or any future festivals. In fact it will provide a safety barrier between those using the green and traffic using the ferry.”