Ministerial backing for Portaferry

Ministerial backing for Portaferry

29 May 2013

THE importance of government support for Portaferry’s regeneration plans was impressed upon Stormont Minister Nelson McCausland as he toured the seaside town on Thursday.

The Minister for Social Development met local business owners, politicians and members of Portaferry Regeneration — all of whom want the charm of this picture-postcard town restored — during his walkabout.

Portaferry Regeneration was awarded a provisional £1.2m Heritage Lottery Fund grant in 2011, allowing it to transform a conservation area surrounding Portaferry town centre, where many late Georgian and Victorian buildings have fallen into disrepair. Getting the full £1.2m funding is dependant on securing match funding from various government bodies and other grant-aid schemes.

According to Strangford MLA Mike Nesbitt, Stormont adding its backing to the initiative should be a “no-brainer”.

“The match funding in the Heritage Lottery Fund Grant is three to one — so with £250,000 we are seeing £1m on the streets of Portaferry,” he said. “This is really cost effective funding.”

Stating that the minister was left in no doubt of the scale of Portaferry’s problems, Mr. Nesbitt said he urged him to implement the ‘Living Over The Shop’ initiative, which helps to breathe new life into town centres by re-using under-used retail space for housing.

Mr. Nesbitt said the scheme had been in danger of being withdrawn but said he felt confident Portaferry would now benefit from this by the end of the year.

He said, however, that to secure a major government funding boost for the town he would be writing to the Department of Agriculture.

“Mr. McCausland cannot directly help with populations under 45,000 so our understanding is that this passes to Michelle O’Neill at the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development,” said Mr. Nesbitt.

Local MLA Kieran McCarthy also welcomed Mr. McCausland’s visit.

“I was pleased to see someone at ministerial level coming down to walk around the main bit of the town where there is a lot of dereliction,” he said. “I think he probably was surprised at the scale of the problem — it is only when you stop and walk around you realise how bad it actually is. We also need property owners to get on board and get involved.

“The minister did acknowledge there were many towns in a similar position, but we do have a very strong and active regeneration group.”

Councillor Joe Boyle, a director of Portaferry Recreation, said he hoped the minister’s visit would lead to what recent research had shown high street businesses wanted — revitalised town centres with Living Over the Shops schemes.

“It is critically important that Minister McCausland recognises the importance of reintroducing the Living Over the Shops scheme funding package to compliment the ongoing heritage initiative in Portaferry as well as those towns experiencing similar circumstances,” he said.

“On putting it to Minister McCausland...he believed this would be in place by the Autumn. It is imperative that there is no unnecessary delay.”

Mr. McCausland said he welcomed the opportunity to visit Portaferry.

“My department’s housing strategy sets out proposals for supporting town and city centre regeneration through a revitalised Living over the Shops (LOTS) initiative,” he said.

“I was therefore pleased to be able to hear the views of local business owners and community representatives on how initiatives such as this could regenerate Portaferry.”

Although unable to attend the meeting due to a prior engagement, Strangford MP Jim Shannon said he had spoken to Mr. McCausland on several occasions regarding this project.

“The minister was again caught with the beauty and history of this village and could see the tourist potential that was there,” he said. “After a very comprehensive presentation by Portaferry Regeneration, the minister put forward some suggestions of how the group should liaise with his department for the consultation that was in place.

“I will continue to liaise with the Minister and his department to see how we can get the best results for the regeneration of Portaferry. The benefits of this will be felt throughout the entire Ards Borough and further afield.”