Work starts on Strangford plan

Work starts on Strangford plan

19 November 2014

AN 18-month stand-off between Strangford Community Association and Down Council over the future of the Lower Green has been resolved.

Negotiations between the association members and council officials has been deadlocked for months over controversial plans for the refurbishment of the Green.

This week councillor Cadogan Enright revealed the negotiations have concluded and council officials have outlined plans for the Lower Green which meet with the expectations of the Association.

“I was given assurances today that the grassy areas near the Quay will not be covered in hard surface and that no remedial work will be carried out on the ground until after the Carol Ships festival,” said Mr. Enright.

“This is the latest in a series of concessions we have wrung out of the council over the last 18 months in trying to preserve Strangford’s Lower Green as an open space.”

Strangford Community Association chairman, Diarmuid Riordan, welcomed this announcement and said the original council proposals would have damaged the ability of the village to host large-scale festivals.

“The original plan envisaged the Green being divided between a hard-surfaced car-park on the Quay side, with the other half of the Green being fenced off, planted up with flowers and with a huge statue in the middle,” said Mr. Riordan.

“It has taken far too long to achieve this result and whilst we appreciate how Tourism and Leisure staff at the council have supported us, it is our feeling that the Estates Department have a lot to learn about listening to the community.”

Gary Laverty of the Portaferry and Strangford Trust said: “I want to thank councillor Enright on behalf of the Portaferry and Strangford Trust for his efforts over the Lower Green these last two years, and also for assisting us in obtaining match funding from Down Council for the Carol Ship Festival this Christmas.

“Carol Ships will be a landmark event for both Strangford and Portaferry, bringing both communities together to enjoy Christmas fairs and choirs and musicians from around Ireland,” he added.

“This event will become an annual event along with the other festivals that are being organised throughout the year which will both boost our local economies as well as being great fun.”