From the pages of the Down Recorder, December 1, 1993

From the pages of the Down Recorder, December 1, 1993

6 December 2023

BALLYNAHINCH – A senior Department of Environment Roads Service chief has thrown his weight behind the campaign for a major new by-pass to alleviate traffic congestion in Ballynahinch.

But Mr David Stewart has warned Down councillors on Monday evening that it may be at least five years before the scheme in included in a capital works programme.

In the interim, a full cost analysis will be carried out by staff at the DoE’s headquarters and a decision will then be taken on whether or not it is likely to proceed.

Mr Stewart said that yet again, major works schemes had been hit by more cut-backs and that capital finance was “extremely limited”.

“The Ballynahinch by-pass was in the capital works programme a number of years ago, but it has disappeared,” he said.

“However, I have put it forward to staff at headquarters, hoping that it will be included at some stage in the future, but that is unlikely to be for at least another five years.”

Mr Stewart also stressed the need for a ‘coherent strategy’ to be developed, one which would carry some weight at Departmental level.

NEWCASTLE – President of the Mourne Mountains Appeal, flautist James Galway, returned to the local hills this week to check on progress and play in aid of the fund.

Gales and driving rain prevented him from seeing the full extent of the work being done to repair eroded footpaths at Bloody Bridge and the Glen River, but the star praised the National Trust for completing so much since May.

He also met the footpath team, Mark Coyne, William Clarke, Tony Dalton and Mark Walsh, who have used stones from the Bloody Bridge river and mountainside rock screes to repair about 200 metres of path.

“Anything that preserves a mountain is very good,” said James, whose hillside home in Meggan, Switzerland is set in similar surroundings to those he visited on Monday.

“The re-creation of a path that was there before the tourist board or any one else started encouraging people to visit the Mournes is an important part of our heritage,” he continued.

ARDGLASS – A special meeting is to be convened to thrash out plans for a public library in Ardglass.

The South Eastern Education and Library Board is seeking to meet with Down councillors and South  Down MP Eddie McGrady to consider the conversion of the former Ardglass Primary School into a library.

The cost of the conversion is expected to top £70,000 and has been given a high priority in the determination of budgets for 1994/95.

In a bid to finance the conversion, SEELB officers are to approach the European Community and the Rural Development Council to seek grant aid for the project.

It is hoped that in addition to a library, part of the complex could be used for community activities.

DOWNPATRICK – Downpatrick could get its new £1.7m link road sooner than was planned, Down councillors were told on Monday evening.

The scheme has been programmed to start in the 1997/98 financial year but the start date could be brought forward, perhaps by as much as several years, it has emerged.

Details of a major environmental impact study are expected to be made public within a matter of days, paving the way for Department of Environment officials to re-commence land acquisition processes.

The design of the scheme is virtually complete and councillors were told on Monday night that a number of problems with regard to the environmental report had now been ironed out.

And DoE chiefs are confident that the information contained in the report will rule out the threat of a public inquiry being ordered into the development of the much-needed link road.

The report has also been rubber-stamped by the DoE’s solicitors and all hold-ups have now been removed, the DoE’s Divisional Roads Manager told councillors.

SAINTFIELD – A new action group has this week accused the organisers of hunts in the area of giving a “deliberately and misleading impression” that local farmers support their activities.

A spokesman for the recently formed FROTH group – Farmers Raise Objections to Hunting – said the majority of them were against all hunts.

Mr James Greer, from Saintfield, who last week hit out at the damage being caused to fences and hedgerows and the worry caused to livestock by the huntsmen, said the objections stemmed from the threat which hunts posed to their livelihoods.

“While farmers recognise that the horse industry contributes to the Province’s economy and have no argument with individual and considerate horse riders and owners, we draw the line with the huntsmen,” he declared.

A number of farmers in Down District are so concerned at the present situation that they have called a special meeting for next Friday evening at 7.45pm in Crossgar’s War Memorial Hall.

Mr Greer said the meeting will give farmers an opportunity to discuss how best to protect their property and livestock from hunt officials, their followers, horses and hounds.

“As individual farmers it is easy to be intimidated by the hunt, but farmers do not need to stand helplessly by and watch their businesses being destroyed,” he said.

STRANGFORD – The Department of the Environment has this week unveiled plans to replace the MV Portaferry which operates on Strangford Lough.

Down councillors heard on Monday evening that a team of consultants has been appointed to examine which vessel would best be suited to replace the ship, which provides an invaluable service on the busy crossing.

Divisional Roads Manager David Stewart said he had been seeking finance for the past two years to find a suitable replacement for the MV Portaferry.

The ship, which is the older of the two vessels operating on the route, has a weight restriction of eight tonnes and is not suitable for carrying heavy vehicles.

And Mr Stewart has confirmed that the size and cost of the replacement vessel would depend largely on the outcome of the consultants’ recommendations.

He also stressed that the replacement of the vessel would depend largely on the availability of finance.

Earlier this week, a DoE spokesman denied claims that a major new vessel, worth £5m and capable of carrying up to 40 cars, was in the pipeline.

CROSSGAR – Local people have this week been urged to be on the look out for grey squirrels and report any sightings to the Ulster Wildlife Trust’s based at Crossgar.

The appeal comes after the Trust, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, produced a new report showing the whereabouts of five of the Province’s most elusive mammals which are seldom viewed by the public.

Red and grey squirrels, which have been spotted in the Mournes, along with Irish and English hares, feature in the book. There is also a fascinating section, on Pine martens which are found mainly in forests.

The Trust’s conversation officer, Dermot Hughes, said the report had thrown up some interesting facts, not least that red squirrels are still fairly common in the province, unlike in some areas of Britain where they have completely disappeared.

KILLOUGH – The Housing Executive has won a major award for one of its most recent new schemes in Down District.

The development of 14 new houses located at Main Street and Bay Court in Killough, has received a Regional Award in the 1993 Housing Design Awards.