Demolition begins on former primary school in Ballykinlar

Demolition begins on former primary school in Ballykinlar

20 April 2016

BULLDOZERS have moved in to demolish the former Kindle Primary School in Ballykinlar.

Education chiefs took the decision to demolish the Commons Road building because it had become a magnet for thieves and vandals since it closed in 2008.

The former school has been repeatedly targeted and used as a meeting point for teenagers who engaged in anti-social behaviour with residents concerned young people were high on drugs and alcohol at times. Residents also described the building as a “danger and an eyesore.”

Bulldozers began work to demolish the school last week with South SDLP Assembly candidate Colin McGrath and Councillor Dermot Curran hopeful the site can be acquired by Newry, Mourne and Down Council to provide a community facility in the village.

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 heart of the village.

Since its closure, the former school has been repeatedly targeted by vandals and thieves. A wooden floor in the school assembly hall, which also doubled as a dining area, has been stripped bare, while metal covers on drains and manholes have been removed. Virtually every window had been smashed and metal cable ducts have been removed, leaving electrical cables hanging from the ceiling in every room.

Copper piping was stripped from toilets, wooden doors torn off numerous cupboards, fluorescent light bulbs stolen or smashed and broken glass scattered through the interior of the building.

Councillor McGrath said the demolition of the school must be seen as an opportunity to develop a community facility on the site. He said the state of the building had become so poor that the Education Authority had no other option but to demolish it.

“Fires being started by vandals were causing damage to asbestos roofing which could prove hazardous to the local community and the safety of local people had to be paramount. Now the site is being cleared, this must now pave the way for the local council to purchase the site to allow officers to work with the community to draw down funding to build a communal facility on the site,” he said.

“I have asked council officers to investigate the purchase of the site and to begin the process of getting funding for the area. There is an active community group in the area and we must do all we can to deliver for them in an area which has had to wait too long to get community facilities.”

Councillor Curran is urging local authority officials to meet with representatives from the Education Authority to discuss the acquisition of the Commons Road site.

“We need to work to deliver the new centre people in Ballykinlar and Tyrella have been campaigning for. These people were promised such a facility and with a brownfield site to develop we must deliver on this and begin work on identifying potential funding streams,” he continued.

Councillor Curran added: “This part of our district has been starved of investment over the years and the time has come to put that right. It is an area of need and one which has suffered since soldiers vacated the nearby army barracks almost two years ago. 

“An opportunity now exists to do something for the people of Ballykinlar. Moving forward, we must work alongside the Ballykinler and Tyrella Community Association in a partnership approach.”

A spokeswoman for the Education Authority confirmed that following repeated instances of intrusion, damage and theft, the organisation has decided to demolish the former Kindle school building. She added: “This should greatly reduce the opportunity for anti-social behaviour and the site will now be offered for sale.”