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Finance Minister Conor Murphy MLA has announced that he has approved just over £16M for the Albert Basin Park in the proposed outline budget at Stormont today.
In an announcement on Facebook Murphy said "Today I have approved over £16 million in the proposed Executive budget for the Newry City Park. The plans for a 15-acre Albert Basin park will totally transform Newry and provide a first-class green space in the heart of our city and for the wider area.
"Sinn Féin will continue to work hard to see the completion of this transformative project and we will keep you updated on this!"
The Executives draft budget was discussed today at Stormont and is subject to public consultation before being ratified.
The 15 acre Park was approved at full Council in December 2017 but since then little has been done. It's hoped that this announcement might just be the spark to speed things up. The Campaign for a city park for Newry has most recently been speerheaded by community group Newry 2020 who have been lobbying for the park since 2014.
In reply to a query from Newry.ie for an update on the current progress of the Albert Basin park project a Council representative said that the next Newry City Centre Regeneration Programme Board meeting currently scheduled for 13 January 2022 will see the Outline Business Case and the appointment of the design team for the Albert Basin project discussed.
The Spokesperson added that funding will also be allocated through the rates process in 2022 "It is expected that funding for the project will be allocated through the 2022 rates process, subject to the appropriate approval process."
A project timeline will not be considered until the Outline Business Case has been completed the Spokesperson said.
Current suggested costs for the project have been mentioned as around £30M with a timeline of 8/9 years was also mentioned in a report but both these figures are disputed by campaigners and some political representatives.
Incredible Achievement
Welcoming the news Brian Cleland, Newry 2020 said "This is phenomenal news, and an incredible achievement by the entire community who have fought long and hard to get the project to this stage.
"We'd like to thank the Finance Minister Conor Murphy and his party colleagues for their support in getting this funding, as well as all the other political representatives who have supported us along the way.
"This is not the end of our struggle for a world-class park, but it is unquestionably a great day for our city. People power will win in the end!"
No Turning Back on the Park
Newry Councillors Gary Stokes and Michael Savage have joined their party colleagues in expressing their absolute delight in hearing the news.
The funding is part of the complementary fund for the Belfast Region City Deal.
Stokes said "It may be the Covid I am suffering from at the moment but I shed a tear when I heard the news. I have been like a broken record at Council in recent years since the park motion passed 4 years ago asking the Council to explore external funding options.
"I must acknowledge the council officers who have helped make this happen and the cross party support it has taken to get the park to this point.
"There is no turning back on the park now."
Michael Savage added "What a gift this will be when we finally emerge from this pandemic to see the park open."
Milestone
Newry Councillor Gavin Malone also spoke of his delight "When I stood for election I promised the people of Newry that I would do all in my power to stop the persistent procrastination by the Council to delay the “Peoples Park”.
"I tabled notice of motions and raised Newry City Peoples number 1 priority at every opportunity I had. Today I feel so proud that due to the support and continuous persistence of the residents of our region we have together achieved our goal, to ensure, we have a quality, state of the art public park which will improve the quality of life for all our families.
"I thank everyone who supported me in achieving this milestone, particularly my fellow Councillors, Newry 2020 , Newry Maritime Association, all local community associations, residents and many many others. I look forward to the project commencing and as usual I will update you all with progress in future posts
"Finally I would also like to congratulate Mr Conor Haughey the senior Council Official who at very short notice submitted our funding application."
