By Julie Waters
PLANS to transform Bangor Castle into a major new hotel following a £17m revamp have been dismissed as ‘madness’ and ‘bonkers’ by some local residents.
Feelings ran high at the morning session of a public information event held at the historic landmark last weekend, as local people weighed up the options for the Castle’s future.
Just last week, the council unveiled its plans to move out of the stately home and into a purpose built administration hub in either the Flagship building or the Queen’s Parade seafront development.
North Down Museum is also expected to have to move out of the Castle into a stand alone complex, with an estimated relocation price tag of £5m, although a site has not been identified.
Consultants Barker Langham compiled five options for the castle’s future, with the large boutique hotel, including 43 bedrooms and an extension on the West Lawns, coming out as the council’s favourite choice.
It has been claimed the multi-million pound transformation project will be funded by the council, the hotel operator and grants and will ultimately generate an annual operating profit of £637,000 for council coffers.
Council chief executive, Susie McCullough, has stressed that the castle is not for sale, but the hotel would be run by a private operator. She stated that spiralling costs to maintain the building have led the move for a major relocation plan into the city centre.
She said that despite Bangor Castle’s grandeur, the local authority faced significant challenges, including poor accessibility, outdated infrastructure and inefficient use of space, which no longer met the demands of a modern civic workspace.
However, leading the public concerns, local resident David Lennon described the hotel plan as ‘completely bonkers’.
“I live in Bangor and very much appreciate that the public take pride in, and are custodians of, this Grade A listed building. We have two, Bangor Castle and Tower House. They can not be altered in any way.”
Of the plans to transform the castle into a hotel, Mr Lennon said: “I think it is completely bonkers, what businessman is going to invest £10m in a building he will never have ownership of?
“And are you seriously saying that the grounds will stay open? That you will be sitting having your breakfast looking out over the gardens and dog walkers will be allowed to walk past?”
Mr Lennon cited the successful multi-million pound transformation of Mossley Mill Civic and Cultural Centre by Antrim and Newtownabbey Council as well as the Highlanes Municipal Art Gallery, in Drogheda.
He said ‘these important spaces have been reimagined’ and hit out at the council’s lack of public consultation on deciding the castle’s future.
“I would have thought that after the Bangor Greenway that engagement would have been better, after the (seafront) sculpture and the criticism that was levelled there would would have been better engagement. When will they ever learn? There are stakeholders out there.”
Bangor architect Gerry Hamillsaid that local residents should have been consulted at an earlier stage.
“The whole thing is back to front, it is just madness,” he said. “I feel local people should have been consulted before this.”
Citing the success of Mossley Mill, he criticised the amount of public money spent by the council on consultants and said the decision was taken ‘behind closed doors’ to opt for the boutique hotel as the preferred choice.
Barbara Hamill, who has been living in Bangor for the past 38 years, said American relatives who had recently visited the seaside city had commented it was‘so sad to see your town has turned into a slum’.
She said the council had ‘destroyed Bangor’ over the past 35 years, which had begun with the marina and Bregenz House. Describing the castle as an ‘iconic building’, she voiced concerns that local people would no longer be able to enjoy the grounds if it was turned into a hotel.
