Geopark and ex-PSNI station site are priority over next 12 months

12 June 2019

LOCAL politicians have been given a glimpse of the key issues Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s influential Enterprise, Regeneration and Tourism Department’s will focus on over the next 12 months.

Among the big ticket items featured in its draft business plan unveiled this week are securing the necessary land to pave the way for the redevelopment of the former Irish Street police station site in Downpatrick.

Other priorities include submitting the formal bid to secure UNESCO geopark status for the Mournes, rationalising car park charges across the district and significantly improving planning services.

The detail of the draft plan was discussed by politicians on Monday and is due to come before the full council in July with action proposed in a number of areas including enterprise and regeneration, tourism, culture and events, building control and regulation and planning.

Plans for the multi-million pound town centre regeneration initiative in Downpatrick has the redevelopment of the former Irish Street police base and a number of adjacent empty properties at its core.

The plan is to develop a new retail and commercial centre with the development area also including the Irish Street car park. The former police base is now in the ownership of the Department of Communities which is working alongside the local council to help bring new investment to the town.

Details of the project have already attracted reported interest from leading retailers, with Marks and Spencer and Home Bargains understood to be keen to invest in Downpatrick. The proposed investment initiative also kills off plans for a new road through the former police base linking Irish Street and St Patrick’s Avenue.

Councillors were told this week that in addition to securing the necessary land in irish Street, officials also hope to make significant progress on a development brief designed to encourage developers to come forward and redevelop the sprawling Irish Street site to provide a significant economic boost for the town and existing traders through increased footfall.

Securing world renowned UNESCO geopark status for an area taking in the Mournes, Ring of Gullion and the Strangford and Lecale Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty is also a priority for the local authority. The formal bud will be lodged this November.

The focus on the so-called Two Oceans geopark status is primarily about environmental sustainability and trying to increase economic revenue in a part of the world already revered for its stunning beauty.

For over one year the local authority has been engaging with local communities as it firms up its application bid and is working alongside the the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland.

Geoparks are based around significant areas of geology and are set up to support sustainable economic development of an area, primarily through geological and eco-tourism. But they are not just about geology and include sites that are of interest for their history, archaeology, biodiversity, folklore, cultural and local heritage.

Securing the prestigious designation for the local area is one of the key planks of Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s tourism strategy, with councillors confident that it has the potential to deliver high quality tourism in the area, increasing the number of international visitors.

The thorny issue of car parking charges across the district is another key issue for the local authority which aims to rationalise the bye-laws controlling them.

A detailed survey ordered in the wake of the controversial decision to hike car parking charges across the district last year has been completed.

Charges at a number of car parks in Downpatrick and Ballynahinch were increased by 200% in April last year, rising to 40 pence per hour and increasing the cost of a weekly parking ticket to almost £20.

But there is anger in the business community in both towns that while parking charges in their respective locations have been increased, it remains free to park at local authority-owned car parks in Newcastle, Saintfield and Castlewellan.

Planning has been a particularly vexatious issue for the local council since it was handed responsibility for it, with many councillors particularly happy with its current delivery.

Under the draft development plan, the local authority aims, by the end of March next year, to process 60% of local planning applications with 15 weeks. A turnaround target of processing 75% of major application within 30 weeks has been set.

Dealing with a backlog of enforcement issues has also been a problem for local planners with the council aiming to conclude 75% of enforcement cases within 39 weeks.

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