£16M Park Funding at risk?

Six months ago today, 10 December 2021, in a great blaze of publicity, Stormont Finance Minister, Conor Murphy MLA announced £16.225M funding to build Newry's long awaited park at the Albert Basin, but half a year later Newry, Mourne and Down District Council have still not carried out the necessary steps to draw down the money!

The Minister at the time proclaimed it as a good day for Newry “This is a good day for Newry. I am delighted to be able to approve this funding and look forward to seeing the project move forward at last." Minister Murphy said.

The funding was granted from the Belfast Region City Deal Complementary Fund, a fund administered by the Department for Communities. At the time the announcement was heralded by many as the long awaited cast iron guarantee that the park was actually going to happen and all the false promises and attempts to scupper the park were in the past. Unfortunately potential hurdles still keep coming.

 Submission of an Outline Business Case (OBC) for the park was required by the relevant Government department, to enable the funds to be drawn down by Council.

At the Albert Basin Park Project Board Meeting in November 2021 Michael Lipsett, Director of the Council's Active and Healthy Communities Committee indicated that the OBC would be completed in February 2022. That deadline came and went and finally three months later the OBC, or at least a summary of it, has eventually made it to the Newry City Centre Regeneration Programme Board Meeting, held yesterday, 9 May, with all decisions made there brought to this Thursdays Strategy, Policy and Resources Meeting for approval.

Newry.ie has had sight of documents produced at yesterday's meeting and we have written to all the members of the SP&R Committee asking for their thoughts and comments on some of our specific concerns.

£16M Funding needs to be spent by March 2025 yet Council suggest they would still be spending it in 2028!

Wording in one document suggests that the DfC funding of £16.2M would not be spent until 2028 which rang alarm bells straight away, as a reply to a question by Councillor David Taylor at the Newry City Centre Regeneration Programme Board Meeting 13 January said that the money would need to be spent by 31 March 2025.

Councillor Taylor had asked for clarification from Damian Mullholland, DfC "if the £16M would need to be fully spent within the 22-25 period?" In the Minutes of the meeting it states that Mr Mullholland "confirmed the £16M  would need to be spent by 31st March 2025, however he considered the project would be undertaken in phases, with Council committing to delivery of benefits in longer term."

The documents give a target of the park being established by May 2027 but even this is two years after the funders have said the money needs to be spent. 

Even more disturbing after seeing the documents is our understanding that after the £16M is spent in 2028 Newry has a park, but it's  a park without a marina, bridge links to the Quays and Warrenpoint Road, skatepark or a cafe/ visitors centre - all items mentioned repeatedly in the 2021 Newry City Centre Regeneration Public Consultation and expected by the Newry public in the final design.

In essence it's grass and trees with a children's play area and the documentation we had sight of doesn't even suggest anything else is planned ever!

Council have no intention of building world class park

In a statement to Newry.ie a Spokesperson from campaign group Newry 2020 expressed serious concerns about the reported content of the documents produced at yesterdays meeting "The timing of the publication of this report seems very odd. Just a few days after the Stormont elections are over, we suddenly find out that the £16m funding may be under threat. Not only that, but the council have made it clear they have no intentions of building the "world class park" we were promised by 2023. Instead they have a plan for a bog-standard park, that may or may not happen 5 or 6 years from now.

 "Once again we ask: what are the political parties doing? Who is in charge in our council? Why are we no further on, four and a half years after we were promised a park on the Albert Basin?"

 The Spokesperson concluded "If the council is incapable of delivering the park we were promised, then the parties need to be honest with the public and find an alternative delivery mechanism."

Newry.ie will keep you informed of any replies we receive from Councillors on the SP&R Committee.