PLANS to redevelop Bangor’s long-term vacant Flagship Centre could soon be in the pipeline following ‘considerable private sector interest’ it has emerged this week.
The good news for the Main Street centre came to light at a behind closed doors council meeting, as councillors decided on the location of their new civic headquarters.
At the meeting, the majority of councillors backed Queen’s Parade as their preferred site for their new council civic hub, giving the green light to the private sector to redevelop the vacant Flagship Centre.
Two sites, including the Queen’s Parade redevelopment and the former Main Street shopping centre, had initially been identified by council officials as the preferred option for their new administration hub.
The Flagship finally closed its doors back in 2019 following a number of shop closures. The once bustling centre had once been home to Argos, Dunnes, Iceland, the Co-op, Stewart Miller and a food court with KFC, Burger King and Subway.
Now councillors hope to relocate the 400 local government staff into the eagerly anticipated seafront redevelopment, on the site of the former B&M building, that will front onto Main Street.
There are also plans to move staff from the Department of Education, Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the Jobs and Benefits Office, all under the one roof, bringing a total of 800 staff into the city centre.
During the council meeting it was revealed there has been considerable private sector interest in the vacant Flagship centre and the council’s decision to opt instead for Queen’s Parade would allow the private sector to go ahead.
Councillors agreed that moving council staff into the new headquarters was a crucial step in increasing footfall in the city centre and would allow the private sector to go ahead and progress the Flagship.
There was also agreement that it was important to bring in civil service staff into the new headquarters complex which would be a catalyst to the wider redevelopment of the waterfront. However, some councillors said the local authority needs to work on its communication as there may be some cynicism within the community about council officers moving into new offices overlooking the sea.
Susie McCullough, council chief executive, told the meeting that anyone she had spoken to at the recent Bangor Castle information event agreed with the plan to bring staff together under one roof.
However she said the local authority had work to do to raise public awareness about how the new offices would help drive footfall in the city centre. She said a detailed communication plan was being finalised.Some concerns were expressed about the parking implications of so many public sector workers moving to the city centre.
However, Ms McCullough said there are now fewer people working at the Department of Education building at Rathgael so the demands on city centre parking may be less. She said because of the numbers now working at the Rathgael complex, the Department is considering putting its car park next to the Elim Church up for sale.
