Bishop dismisses site sale complaint

Bishop dismisses site sale complaint

24 February 2016

THE Bishop of Down and Connor believes the “silent majority” are happy with a decision by the Parish of Maghera not to sell a former primary school site in Newcastle to build a new leisure centre in the resort.

Bishop Noel Treanor and Parish officials made the assertion during a meeting last week with South Down MLA Sean Rogers to discuss Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s failed bid to secure the Shanslieve Drive site.

Council officials had been attempting to secure the site for the past number of years and were hopeful of securing a deal, but the local authority’s most recent bid failed.

Mr Rogers said last week’s meeting in Belfast was organised to ascertain the latest position on the proposed sale and to articulate the concerns of many people who had contacted the SDLP and who wanted to see the former school site sold for the development of a new leisure complex.

He said while the Bishop and Parish representatives were aware of newspaper letters on the sale issue, other than this they believed the ‘silent majority’ were content with the decision of the Parish to sell to the highest bidder as the Bishop had only received a few letters on the issue.

Mr Rogers said many constituents had expressed concern that having originally believed the site had been sold to Newry, Mourne and Down Council they learned this was no longer the case and requested him to contact the Bishop. 

“I spoke to Bishop Treanor before Christmas regarding this issue and last Thursday’s meeting was the agreed follow up,” the MLA explained. “It was outlined that the decision about any sale or purchase of ‘church property’ is made by the Parish authorities in consultation with the Diocese. It is my understanding that the Parish authority in this case is the Parish Finance Committee.”

Mr Rogers said it was confirmed during the meeting that the sale process had been ongoing since 2012 when the former Down Council expressed an interest in the site. He said it was indicated the Council was the preferred bidder but because of its “prevarication” was no longer the preferred bidder. 

“Those at the meeting outlined some of the improvement work that needs to be done to the church in Newcastle and the Church Hall at Bryansford. They highlighted that with such a sale, the Parish needs to comply with the rules of the Charity Commission,” he continued.

Mr Rogers said he subsequently met with the local council’s deputy chief executive, Eddy Curtis, relaying the views of Fr O Hagan and Mr Shevlin.

“Mr Curtis categorically stated that since the amalgamation of Newry and Mourne and Down councils and him taking up his post in April 2015, there was certainly no prevarication by the Council and the paper trail would substantiate this. He said as a public body this would be available to anyone who places a Freedom of Information request. Mr Curtis also indicated that there had been no such issues in the sale of other former school sites in the district,” said the MLA.

Mr Rogers added: “I would advise parishioners to write to the Bishop and the Parish Finance Committee if they have concerns about the proposed sale of this site to those other than Newry, Mourne and Down Council. I certainly hope that this matter can be brought to a satisfactory conclusion thus ensuring that both the residents of Newcastle and visitors alike have access to a state of the art leisure facility locally.”