By Julie Waters
ARDS and North Down Council has been accused of failing to consult residents about its plans to spend over £1m to buy land for a new municipal cemetery in Bangor.
At a behind closed doors meeting last week, councillors agreed to purchase the former Bangor Grammar School sports pitches at Ballymacormick Road, as pressure continues to grow on existing cemetery capacity across the borough.
The secret decision to buy the land for a graveyard is the latest incidence of councillors deciding to spend large sums of ratepayers’ money without any public debate.
Last year the local authority was strongly criticised for spending £1.25m of public money on three giant sculptures of hands for Marine Gardens without a single word of public discussion.
Strong criticism has now been levelled at the local authority that the decision was ‘taken without any form of consultation with local residents in the Ballymacormick and Towerview areas’.
It is understood that local residents were ‘shocked’ to learn of the ‘inappropriate’ cemetery plans given its close proximity to a housing area, without any prior communication from council.
Fears have also been raised that should planning permission be refused for the Ballymacormick Road site, the council could find itself the owner of land for which it has no use.
North Down MLA Peter Martin and the deputy Mayor James Cochrane are now leading the call for the council to ‘rethink’ the Ballymacormick cemetery plans.
“I am concerned that the council has seemingly decided that the former Bangor Grammar School playing fields at Ballymacormick Road should be the new site for the new cemetery informing local residents, local MLAs or the MP for North Down,” said Mr Martin.
“I know that sites in Six Roads Ends and other locations were looked at but that Ballymacormick was not on the radar at all. Without any prior notification the council have now decided that Ballymacormick playing fields is the preferred location and are making moves to acquire the site”
Mr Martin urged the council to ‘pause the process’ and instead consult the public and local residents and explain why this site has been chosen and what it will entail for local residents.
He also called on the council to consider ‘more appropriate sites’ saying: “Ballymacormick is a designated open space and an important landscape wedge between Groomsport. requires infrastructure, throughout it to service it, paths and a car park and intensification of use.
My preference for the site would be a public park that embraces the natural area and protects that rural landscape wedge. That in my view is an appropriate use of the site, rather than a cemetery.
Councillor Cochrane said he believed the Ballymacormick site was ‘inappropriate, given its built-up setting and the very close proximity of residential properties’.
“This decision was regrettably taken without any form of consultation with local residents in the Ballymacormick and Towerview areas,” said Mr Cochrane. “Having engaged extensively with residents, I have no doubt that many will be shocked to learn of these plans without having received any prior communication from council.”
Mr Cochrane said there was also ‘significant procedural concern’ planning permission for the proposed use of the site had not been secured by the council.
“If planning permission is ultimately refused, Council could find itself in the concerning position of owning land for which it has no viable use,” said Mr Cochrane.
“Given these procedural and logistical concerns, I voted against Council proceeding with the purchase of the land at Ballymacormick Road for use as a cemetery.
“Residents deserve to be properly consulted on proposals that could have such a significant impact on their local area, and I will continue to engage with residents and raise their concerns with council.”
The local authority began its search for a new cemetery site just over a year ago, and sought expressions of interest from landowners who could offer around 14 hectares/34 acres of land as a suitable cemetery location.
The council stated that Clandeboye cemetery, the largest burial site in North Down, had capacity for new burials for a further eight to nine years; it was hoped the new cemetery would provide burial space for the next three to four decades.
