Villages to get share of funding for improvement works

Villages to get share of funding for improvement works

2 September 2020

LOCAL towns and villages features heavily in a £3.2m environmental improvement scheme which includes seven locations across the district.

Funding for the ambitious scheme has been provided by the Mourne, Gullion and Lecale (MGL) Rural Development Partnership. 

The organisation is one of 10 Local Action Groups across the province delivering the Rural Development Programme.

Locally, the environmental improvement works are designed to enhance the physical and social infrastructure in Ballyhornan, Dundrum and Killyleagh, with the work to include a combination of new paving, new street lighting, gateways, railings, shrubbery and landscaping, tree surrounds to existing trees, new tree planting, the removal of overhead electricity cables and coloured road coatings. 

Newry, Mourne and Down Council chairwoman Laura Devlin said that in the current climate, investments such as the village renewal scheme were vital.

She said the scheme will help improve the quality of life and economic prospects of rural communities, supporting them to be areas where residents are proud to live, work and importantly, invest in.

Cllr Devlin added: “In turn, this scheme is assisting the council to achieve the core outcomes of its corporate plan.”

Cllr Roisin Mulgrew, chairwoman of the Mourne, Gullion and Lecale Partnership, described the regeneration of rural villages under the renewal scheme as a “wonderful example” of how local communities actively engage and inform development initiatives to enhance their futures. 

“The works to date have already begun to improve the aesthetics of these rural villages and as communities are currently spending more time in their own localities, the improvement works are in turn helping to instil a sense of ownership,” she added.

All improvement work is scheduled to be completed early next year.