Boards going up at former Ballykinlar primary school

Boards going up at former Ballykinlar primary school

13 January 2016

EDUCATION chiefs are to board up the former Kindle Primary School in Ballykinlar which has been a magnet for thieves and vandals since it closed in 2008.

The Commons Road building has been repeatedly targeted with a wooden floor in the school assembly hall, which also doubled up as a dining area, stripped bare, while metal covers on drains and manholes have been removed.

Virtually every window has been smashed and metal cable ducts have been removed, leaving electrical cables hanging from the ceiling in every room.

Copper piping has been stripped from toilets, wooden doors have been torn off numerous cupboards, fluorescent light bulbs have either been stolen or smashed, while broken glass is scattered through the interior of the building and litters what was once a happy children’s playground.

Councillor Colin McGrath has welcomed the Education Authority’s commitment to make the former school site safe and that officials will be visiting the building to undertake an assessment.

He pointed to a recent survey in which Ballykinlar residents described the site as an “eyesore and a danger.”

He remarked: “The site is open and I witnessed many shattered windows and parts of the roof hanging down.

“The fact the site is open means curious children could gain access. I raised my concerns with the Education Authority which is to carry out an assessment to make the site safe.”

He also said work was continuing between council officials and community representatives to try to secure money to buy the site in order to provide a community facility.

“Many local areas have received community facilities in the past decade and it is unfair that Ballykinlar has been left behind,”he said.

However, the Education Authority confirmed several months ago that the development of new community facility in Ballykinlar was not its “highest priority” and it was planning to sell the site.

The organisation also warned it had no money to invest in such a facility “for the foreseeable future” and was advising Newry, Mourne and Down Council to consider buying the property, the value to be determined by Land and Property Services.

The former Down Council was keen to work with education officials as part of a joint initiative to redevelop the former school to provide a new community centre in the village. The local authority was also hoping to secure the building for a knockdown fee given its poor condition.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council is keen to work with the Education Authority to breathe new life into the former school, but will have to go it alone and see if it can access other potential funding streams.