COUNCILLORS are next week expected to approve a controversial car park at Bangor seafront despite vociferous protests from local residents.
The Spectator understands the DUP and UUP are broadly supportive of the project and while there is some concern within the Alliance Party, it is believed the party will row in behind the scheme.
As protestors met outside Bangor Castle on Monday evening, a delegation from Bangor Marine met with politicians and issued a blunt warning that the entire Queen’s Parade project is under financial threat if the car park doesn’t go ahead.
Central to the future of the Queen’s Parade redevelopment project is Bangor Marine’s demand that the car park be built and that it receive a 125-year lease for the new facility.
The car park is earmarked for a small parkland area, which had not been part of the original Queen’s Parade development zone, and will be built by Bangor Marine at a cost of £1m.
The Bangor Marine officials told councillors that the car park is expected to earn around £250,000 a year meaning the cost of construction will be paid off within four years.
This means the deal for financial control of the car park will net the developers in the region of £30m in the lifetime of the lease. It is understood that Ards and North Down Council will get a percentage of the revenue but how much has yet to be agreed.
In a bid to mollify the local residents who are implacably opposed to the car park, Bangor Marine says it will reduce the size of the park from 101 spaces to 81, with 40% allocated to blue badge holders, families and those with accessibility needs.
According to Bangor Marine the car park will be ‘significantly landscaped and screened’ across the full length of the car park.
In a statement released this week, the developer stressed that without the car park, which it described as ‘enhancements’ to the seafront regeneration scheme, ‘funding challenges remain which jeopardise the overall project’.
Bangor Marine stated that ‘we have been clear with the public, elected representatives and the Department for Communities’ since last summer that the original plans ‘would be reviewed’.
They outlined that this was because ‘suitable parking needed to be identified, the ambition was for a destination playpark and that public money secured through the Levelling Up Fund must be protected’.
The developer went on to explain: “At that time we went on site, with the agreement of all parties, to get work started and to protect the funding which had been secured for the project.”
However, in a strong warning to councillors who will vote on the proposal next Wednesday night, Bangor Marine stated: ‘A delay of any kind will jeopardise public and private funding totalling £14m and put at risk the delivery of the overall project.”
“The regeneration of Bangor will once again fall into delay,” said the company in a statement issued on Tuesday evening.
Bangor Marine is now seeking approval from both the Department of Communities and the council to proceed with their changes through the planning process.
The developer said: “Bangor has a real opportunity to move forward and in Bangor Marine Ltd we remain focused on delivering that shared vision of a better Bangor for everyone.”
