By Julie Waters
A £1.75m funding boost was injected into Ards and North Down during the Covid-19 health crisis to support the economic recovery of the borough’s city, town and village centres.
The Covid-19 Recovery Revitalisation Programme was introduced as businesses and local residents faced the tough challenges posed by the pandemic in 2020.
Now in the first comprehensive report into how the programme was delivered in Ards and North Down, a council committee has been told of the full extent of the support.
The funding was delivered across four strands – business recovery support, streetscape projects, supporting local initiatives to welcome people back to the city, towns and villages and active travel projects.
According to a report presented to a recent sitting of the Place and Prosperity committee, the council received £1,058,000 from the Department for Communities, £398,000 from the Department for Infrastructure, £235,000 from the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs and £60,000 from DfC Revenue.
The aim of the funding was to primarily support businesses and community organisations to re-open safely and with confidence during ongoing Lockdown restrictions.
It also strove to harness local people’s renewed interest in spending time outdoors with activities such as walking and cycling and to encourage people to re-engage with city, town and village life.
According to the report, in the first strand of business recovery support, a total of 428 urban and rural business adaption and improvement grants of £2,500 were issued to businesses totalling £876,044, helping businesses ensure the health and safety of their employees and customers.
In the second funding strand a total of 15 ‘physical intervention and streetscape projects’ were completed to ‘strengthen and reinvigorate our city, towns and villages’.
This included the £65,973 Conway Square seating that included curved benches and chess style tables.
Other projects included the installation of seven parklets costing £171,405 with three in Bangor, three in Newtownards and one in Comber.
The £143,441.93 Comber Environmental Improvement Scheme at the car park next to Comber Leisure Centre included resurfacing, improved lighting, drainage with the ‘enhanced layout making the car park feel safer, well-lit and usable for bespoke events’.
The £120,000 Donaghadee Copelands Court Environmental Improvement Scheme included tree planting, improved lighting, resurfacing and public art to create a ‘safe and welcoming space to accommodate bespoke events’.
In the third funding strand, seven Support Local initiatives were delivered with the aim of encouraging people to return to town and village centres.
The report further explains some of these schemes included spending £40,000 on controversial ‘unique, bespoke living sculptures’ created with ‘living, growing grasses and plants’ that were each individually themed to an area, such as the golfer in Holywood and the Brent goose in Comber.
The final funding strand for sustainable and active travel projects, saw cycling infrastructure including ‘high quality cycle stands, cycle pods and scooter racks’ installed with £39,564 allowed for urban areas, £33,175 for rural areas.
Former Ards and North Down Mayor Jennifer Gilmour said the pandemic showed that the council could adapt and deliver schemes quickly.
“We tried to roll out the money as quickly as we could and meet onerous requirements,” she said.
Councillor Richard Smart said the financial support did give a ‘boost to the towns’ and he said many businesses had appreciated the council support they received during the application process.
Alderman Naomi Armstrong-Cotter welcomed the help for businesses and the many improvements carried out across the borough including Conway Square.
