Write a commentNewry Cathedral Parish have released a statement regarding their concerns in connection with the Newry City Centre Regeneration Project.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council plan to build a new Civic Centre/ Council Offices and carry out outdoor public realm works in the Car Park behind Newry Cathedral as part of the project. This would remove virtually all the spaces there at present.
In their statement the Parish representative says their primary concern is the removal of car parking spaces presently used by parishioners, which shows a "serious flaw in the proposal as the users of the Cathedral would have nowhere to park.
The Parish representative said "The parish has had three meetings with the council. At the very first meeting we expressed our very serious concerns at the loss of parking for parishioners attending weekend Masses, daily Mass, Funerals and Weddings. The Cathedral has a capacity of 1,000 people, so where would people park, if these spaces are removed? This shows a serious flaw in the proposal.
"The two Council representatives agreed to have a look at the parking issue and at a traffic flow plan but have reported no progress in either the second or third meeting."
Deterioration rather than Regeneration
The statement ends "We would like to support the regeneration of Newry but removing essential parking for parishioners wishing to attend the Cathedral and for those shopping on Hill Street is extremely serious. In our opinion we understand this aspect of this proposal to be deterioration rather than regeneration."
Councillors had a heated debate on the issue at last weeks monthly Council meeting which you can read about here AN-UNHOLY-ROW-AT-COUNCIL-MEETING
