Park Plans Progressing

Eight months after the Council unanimously voted to back the creation of a 15-acre City Park on the Albert Basin, Newry 2020 and the Albert basin Park Project have released an update on the park progress. The next Albert Basin Park Task and Finish Group meeting is due to take place mid September.

In a statement a spokesperson for the groups said "The August meeting of the Monthly Task and Finish Group took a number of important decisions that should begin to move the project forward."

• The groups have listed areas of progress as below:
• The group decided that the council should being the process of hiring an experienced project manager in order to accelerate the delivery of the project.
• It was agreed that the council should support the provision of a temporary "pop-up park" that will turn the Albert Basin into an attractive public space while a permanent city park is being developed.
• The group has urged council officers to investigate the possibility of improving the appearance of the entrance to the Albert Basin. Our fantastic greenway deserves an equally fantastic entrance for visitors
• .It has been proposed that experts be invited from the £40m Connswater Greenway project in East Belfast to share their experience and advise on how to exploit the unique opportunity on the Albert Basin.
• Councillors agreed that the Albert Basin Park should be included in the upcoming City Deal proposal.

The spokesperson added "There have been reports in the press that the Council were seeking to undertake a new contamination survey of the site. Independent experts have advised us that this may not be required given the comprehensive study that was carried out in 2006, and we have therefore asked for a review of the data in order to ensure that ratepayers' money is not wasted."

"Most importantly, although there have been some serious challenges along the way, we are delighted that there is now strong cross-party support for this transformative and visionary project for Newry."

Other matters including funding opportunities were also discussed by the group.