Minister visits Ballynahinch to view new £2m street plan

Minister visits Ballynahinch to view new £2m street plan

25 March 2015

A £2m town centre public realm project in Ballynahinch has been given a government minister’s seal of approval.

Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey was in the market town last week in a visit coinciding with the completion of the scheme funded by his department and Down Council.

Footpaths have been upgraded along with improved lighting and street furniture while overhead electricity and telecommunication cables and have been repositioned underground. New watermains have also been laid.

The historic market square in the centre of the town has been refurbished including the provision of new signs outlining the history of Ballynahinch and several public art features. Work is currently underway on a £200,000 revitalisation scheme to help improve shop fronts and finance new branding and marketing initiatives.

Mr. Storey — who went on an impromptu walkabout while in Ballynahinch last Thursday morning — described the market town as an “excellent example” of the difference public realm projects and revitalisation initiatives can make to local towns. 

He said the public realm and revitalisation investments have “given new life to the commercial heart of Ballynahinch.”

He explained the investment by the Northern Ireland Executive is the culmination of a lot of hard work and planning and will benefit everyone who works in the town or stops there.,

“Ballynahinch town centre now has a more attractive and pedestrian friendly environment with high quality civic space. I am sure these improvements will encourage more business activity and future growth as such schemes help build confidence amongst traders and re-energise the future prospects of our towns,” he continued.

Council chairman, Billy Walker, said he hopes Ballynahinch residents and the town’s business community will be proud of the improvements that have been made. He believes as a result of the major investment and improvement work, Ballynahinch’s profile as a town to live in, visit and invest in will be enhanced.

He continued: “For many years, Down Council has been keen to develop the image of Ballynahinch as a high quality market town and to highlight the wealth of cultural assets associated with the town. The £1.7m provided by the DSD and the £440,000 contribution from Down Council financed the 

work, with the project overseen by a steering committee which ensured the public realm scheme was delivered 

in an efficient manner, despite many challenges.”

Councillor Walker said the goal to provide major improvements in Ballynahinch town centre was achieved with minimal disruption as a result of good communication with traders and excellent on-site supervision. He also thanked traders for their co-operation during work outside their respective businesses.

He added: “I understand it was extremely difficult for the business community at times but I trust they are happy with Ballynahinch’s new image. As a result of an investment of just over £2m the market town has enjoyed a wonderful transformation.”

Councillor Anne McAleenan, who chaired the public realm steering committee, thanked the project funders and said the work has made a major difference to Ballynahinch.

“Down Council was determined to have as little disruption as possible and provide as many new structures as possible. Together, we worked alongside a number of other agencies to underground cables and provide new watermains,” she continued.

Mrs. McAleenan added: “The local community also had an input into the final design of the scheme as we undertook a number of consultation events to ensure our proposals would reflect the hopes and aspirations of  the people of Ballynahinch. The valuable input of our local businesses was also greatly appreciated and we thank them for their patience during what turned out to be a very long scheme which resulted in disruption, but I believe that has all been worthwhile.”

Councillor Garth Craig said Ballynahinch is looking a much more attractive town now that the shop front scheme is completed and is delighted so many traders availed of the funding to update, repair and paint their shop fronts. 

“This work enhances the recently completed paving scheme and I hope businesses in the town will benefit from the work. Although there is much more work to be done in regard to the economic regeneration of the town, I’m glad this work was completed just before the old Down Council ceases to exist,” he added.