£7.5m Newcastle plan not backed by Newry

£7.5m Newcastle plan not backed by Newry

3 July 2013

PLANS for a new £7.5m leisure centre in Newcastle have hit another snag after Newry and Mourne councillors failed to back the project.

The councillors, who will merge with Down Council in 2015, were asked last week to support the project which has been hit by a series of delays largely centred around the site of the new complex.

Councillors and officers from the two councils met last week in a special committee which will decide which capital projects will proceed in the new council area. Down councillors were hoping the committee would agree a new leisure centre in Newcastle would be one of the new council’s top priorities.

But Newry and Mourne councillors refused to give their backing to the project. Instead it was agreed that a working party should be set up to further examine which projects should be included in the new council’s shared capital development programme.

This means the debate about the proposed multi-million pound facility in Newcastle is set to continue. The delay in constructing the new leisure centre having a major impact on plans by the South Eastern Trust to replace its current health centre at Park Avenue in the resort.

The Trust intends to replace its existing centre at Park Avenue with a major new centre as part of the new Newcastle Leisure Centre proposal. The ongoing delays in the centre means that staff and patients will have to continue to use the Park Avenue clinic for up five more years.

One of the Down councillors who took part in last week’s joint committee meeting was the SDLP’s Carmel O’Boyle. She said she was content with the outcome of last week’s meeting and that the proposed new leisure centre will be included on the working party’s agenda.

“I am happy to go forward on this basis and allay fears that the new centre won’t happen. I am confident it will as both councils continue to work together,” she said.

Down Council is continuing with formal planning for the new centre despite failing to get agreement from Newry and Mourne.

The local authority hopes to appoint a design team by the end of the summer and hand it the brief of producing concept drawings and beefing up the original economic appraisal produced for the proposed new centre.

At last week’s meeting of Down Council’s Recreation and Community Services Committee which was held in Newcastle, Council Director, Mr. Michael Lipsett, said ground condition tests at the two sites in the running to house the new centre are “broadly similar.”

He said the tests at Donard Park and the former St. Mary’s Girls’ Primary School site at Shanslieve Drive were carried out to determine the structural suitability of the ground.

Mr. Lipsett said the anticipated cost of foundation work at both sites is similar and that consultants have been appointed to look at the economic feasibility of developing both locations, with a specific focus on construction and running costs over a 25 to 30 year period.

“We hope this work can be completed over the summer and we will be moving to appoint the design team. We are currently in the process of shortlisting and hope the design team can begin working up concept drawings after August,” he continued.

It was also confirmed at last week’s meeting that Down Council is continuing its negotiations to secure the former St. Mary’s Primary School in Newcastle to house the proposed new leisure centre.