Heritage the key to new strategy for lough future

Heritage the key to new strategy for lough future

19 February 2014

CONSERVING the heritage of Strangford Lough to boost the local economy and promote the well-being of residents and visitors is the vision behind a new action plan for the area.

The Strangford Lough and Lecale Heritage Management Strategy and Action Plan was launched this week in Portaferry alongside a new media app giving visitors and residents a behind-the-scenes glimpse of local life.

The plan, compiled by the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership (SLLP), was launched by Environment Minster Mark Durkan, who described the Lough as one of Northern Ireland’s tourism highlights.

Work on the detail of the strategy began two years ago when around 2,000 people attended the SLLP’s People and Place public roadshows and many more filled in questionnaires to identify what mattered most to them with respect to

the area’s heritage. The SLLP Advisory Committee also brought together the views of stakeholders and local authorities in a series of meetings and workshops.

One of the main priorities of the new strategy is to establish the area as a hub for healthy and relaxing outdoor recreation and sport, especially wildlife watching, paddling, sailing, diving, walking and cycling.

Raising awareness of Strangford Lough as a special destination nationally and internationally is also key. One of the plan’s main objectives is to develop major strategic tourism initiatives with “high level central co-ordination”, especially in relation to transport and signs, in a bid to increase the numbers of visitors to the area and the amount of money being spent.

Among the more specific tourism ideas are plans to train at least 10 local people as heritage guides to work alongside tour companies. Opportunities may also be offered to fishing families to celebrate their heritage and supplement their income by sharing their experience and knowledge of fishing maritime traditions and culture.

The hope is to produce a fishing heritage leaflet and photographic display, and offer training and support to some fishermen so they can provide pot fishing boat experiences on Strangford Lough and develop a heritage trail in Ardglass.

Reducing dereliction, dumping and litter around the Lough and implementing a robust system of wildlife and heritage protection are also on the strategy’s to-do list.

The new ‘Local Insights into Strangford Lough and Lecale’ app, which can be downloaded on to smartphones, was also demonstrated at Thursday’s launch in the Portaferry Hotel by SLLP manager Caroline Nolan.

She explained that as well as basic tourist information being provided in the app about the Lough and its surrounding area, included are stories from residents that wouldn’t be found in the average guide book.

“At the Rosemount Estate [in Greyabbey] William Montgomery as a boy was absolutely thrilled to learn his ancestor had been killed by a pirate,” she said as an example of one of the stories shared.

“We hope local people will use this app as much as visitors.”

Ms. Nolan said they continued to be open to new ideas and that added that there would be a review of their strategy later in the year.

Chairwoman of the SLLP’s Advisory Committee, Isabel Hood, added: “There are clearly challenges ahead but this level of collaboration in addressing them is very much welcomed.

“Not everything can be tackled at once and some issues will not be easily resolved but this strategy and action plan is a huge step in the right direction for those of us who know and love this area so well.”

Congratulating all those involved in bringing the plan together, Mr. Durkan said that despite the area’s rich and diverse marine life and “enchanting drumlin and island landscape”, the most important aspect was “the people of the Lough”.

“We must be proactive to ensure that this social heritage is not squandered,” he said.

“Strangford Lough and the Lecale area are highlights among the north’s rich tapestry. Though the natural and built heritage of this area are protected by many statutory designations, it will still take real commitment from all concerned to care for all the heritage into the future.”