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Representatives from the arts, community and business groups selected by the Council to be part of its new stakeholders Newry Regeneration Working Group (NRWG) will be expected to “support” and “advocate” the council’s regeneration plans.
The NRWG, which met recently for the first time, includes all groups involved in the first Newry city regeneration stakeholder group, with one controversial exception, Newry Cathedral representatives.
One of the main city centre stakeholders, the Cathedral parish is the only community based organisation from the original regeneration group not invited by the Council to be part of the new stakeholder set-up, despite representing thousands of parishioners and ratepayers.
However, reading the NRWG Terms of Reference, which Newry.ie has had sight of, it’s clear to see why it was excluded, and why Newry BID, the city’s biggest business representative group with over 600 members, has chosen not to take up its invitation to join.
The Terms laid out show the group has been set up to favour the Council’s plans and it is hard to see how it is meant to be representative of the whole community.
It states, “The Newry Regeneration Working Group (NRWG) will be established to support the project during the delivery phase as a multi-agency group of key stakeholders…” with responsibilities including, “Act proactively to ensure affective delivery of the [Council] plan, by acting on those factors that affect the successful delivery of the plan” and, “Be committed to the success of the project.”
The community representatives are also expected to, “Act as advocates for the project, engaging with internal and external Stakeholders.”
Reading minutes from the original group - the NCCR OBC WG, to give it its abbreviated title - and going by reports and first-hand accounts, both the Cathedral Parish and Newry BID representatives, while openly supporting city centre regeneration, voiced the concerns of and advocated for, their respective communities. Their views reflected the results of the Public Consultation, were in line with the city centre business and public opinion and challenged the Council narrative where and when necessary.
This, it appears is where the Council’s problems lie – the Council doesn’t like to be challenged.
The last meeting of the NCCR OBC WG was held on November 31, 2022. The minutes of the meeting are still outstanding and yet to be ratified. Actions requested by the Cathedral representatives, agreed to by Council management, have still to be carried out - 18 months later.
That stakeholder group has not yet been formally disbanded, yet the Council has set up a new stakeholder group to advocate its plans but without any obvious dissenting voices.
