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The drawdown of £16.2m funding granted by the Department of Finance on 10 December 2021 for the building of the proposed Newry City park still has not been approved nearly 2 years on. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council's own timeline for OBC approval was August 2023!
Over a month ago local political representatives indicated that the final sign off by the Department of Finance was "imminent" but it hasn't happened yet.
In December 2021 Finance Minister Conor Murphy announced the funding which came from the NI Executive’s City/Growth Deals Complementary Fund and progress on this one small part of the procedures necessary to build the park has been painfully slow.
The drawing down of the funding involved the submission of an Outline Business Case to the Department for Communities by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council in June 2022 and it has been with them ever since, At the August Council meeting Director of Enterprise Regeneration and Tourism Conor Mallon said that the OBC submission was "approved by the DFC Permanent Secretary on the sixth of July and has been forwarded to the Department of Finance for consideration and approval for the release of the funding for phase one."
This week Newry.ie asked the Department of Finance if it had released the funds but they referred us back to the DfC who are accountable for the project. In their reply they appear to state that the OBC has not yet been approved. A DfC spokesperson said "The Department is continuing to work with Newry Mourne & Down District Council and DoF to secure approval of the outline business case. Funding for the project will be released over the lifetime of the project, in line with the agreed programme/timeline for delivery."
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has also agreed to underwrite a further £2.4 million to deliver Phase 1 of the 15-acre City Park.
