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Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has said the city is entering a significant new phase of regeneration, with several long-awaited projects now moving into delivery following yesterday's planning approval for Newry City Park. The procurement of a contractor to build the park has reached the Invitation to Tender stage, with a select list of contractors already established ahead of construction.
The park will create a major new public space in the heart of Newry, providing recreational and community facilities while helping to reconnect the city centre with the Clanrye River, Newry Canal and Carlingford Lough Greenway. Construction has also commenced on the Newry Theatre and Conference Centre, which the Council said offered further visible evidence of the Newry City Centre Regeneration programme moving from ambition into delivery.
The Theatre and Conference Centre, along with a new Public Realm space, will transform the existing Town Hall and Arts Centre area into a new cultural, conference and events destination. The Department for Infrastructure and the Council are also working together to deliver advance elements of Phase 2 of the Newry Flood Alleviation Scheme, which aims to reduce the risk of flooding to properties in the city. The first phase of the scheme was completed in 2023, with the next phase supporting delivery of the wider Newry Flood Alleviation Scheme currently under development.
The Council said these projects were being complemented by further interventions designed to encourage additional private sector investment in Newry. Among them is the Commercial Property Revive and Reimagine Grant, worth £2 million under the Local Economic Partnership, which is currently open for applications and supports investment in vacant and underused properties, helping owners bring buildings back into productive use while improving the appearance of the city centre.
The Grade A Office Development Grant Scheme is also offering financial incentives to investors and local businesses for the creation of new Grade A offices in Newry city centre. Funded with £3 million through the Belfast Region City Deal, the Council said the programme was acting as a catalyst for levering in new private sector funded developments, with the aim of encouraging companies to choose Newry as a base for growth.
Newry has also benefited from the Hotel Accommodation Development Scheme, with £600,000 awarded to two proposals within the city aimed at increasing the supply and quality of visitor accommodation and supporting Newry's development as a destination for tourism, business travel, conferences and events.
The Council pointed to the opening of the Newry to Carlingford Greenway as a significant milestone for the wider area, describing it as a high-quality cross-border active travel and recreational route linking Newry with Carlingford. It said the greenway was already benefiting local communities by encouraging walking and cycling and strengthening connections between communities on both sides of the border, while adding to the area's tourism offering and creating opportunities for local hospitality and leisure businesses.
The Council said Newry occupied a unique strategic position on the Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor, with an ambitious pipeline of residential, commercial and regeneration projects. It said it had leveraged around £30 million in public sector funding to support delivery of investment in Newry city of up to £70 million, with public sector partners playing a crucial role in enabling delivery and maximising the impact of local investment.
The Council said the developments taken together demonstrated that Newry's regeneration was now entering a period of tangible delivery, with the coming years having the potential to bring some of the most significant physical change to the city centre in a generation. It said the priority now was to build on this momentum and ensure public investment helped unlock further private sector development.
