By Lesley Walsh
FREE parking is to be available in Bangor over the summer at the multi-storey car park of the former Flagship Centre.
The Northhold Group, which is redeveloping the derelict shopping centre, has announced the opening of the car park from July 1st to September 1st, marking the first completed stage of its wider Marina Village development.
The development company has spent £10,000 clearing the drains and repainting the parking space lines to enable the early opening of the three-floor parking facility which can accommodate 600 cars.
The gesture of goodwill has been motivated by the developer’s ’appreciation’ for the positive responses to the ambitious plans for the complex, and has been hailed by the city’s business chiefs and Ards and North Down Council.
The new Marina Village promises a ‘dynamic hub’ of family entertainment and indoor sporting facilities, retail and food and beverage units, with office space, healthcare provision and creche, as well as services like veterinarians, and aims to help drive ‘footfall generation, daytime and evening economy activity’.
The free summer car parking will be open to the public and professionally managed by Complete Parking Services, which have been appointed to operate the facility.
“As a gesture of appreciation for the continued support from local residents and stakeholders since the project began, Marina Village Management is offering free parking from July 1st until September 1st,” the group stated.
During the summer, some work will continue to enhance the car park as part of a broader improvement programme.
“Planned upgrades are set to create a more accessible, attractive and user- friendly environment in line with the long-term vision for Marina Village.”
Alistair Smith, project director for the Marina Village project, said it was ‘extremely grateful’ for the support the local community has shown to the new development.
“We can assure people a lot of work is being carried out which may not as yet be visible to the residents of Bangor.”
He said the opening of the car park ‘represents a key milestone for the development’, with the free parking a ‘reflection of our appreciation for that continued support’.
He said there will be no new signs before September, but the car park will be open for free parking from July 1st.
“There’s no point leaving that just sitting there and empty,” he said.
Once the free period ends on September 1st, fees will commence but ‘won’t be too expensive’, in line with ‘parking in Bangor which isn’t too expensive’.
He said the choice of the car park operator was taken with a community ethos in mind.
“We have spoken to numerous car park operators and we wanted to find one which would integrate into the Bangor community. We are delighted to have struck a deal with Complete as their outlook on how the car park should operate aligned with ours.”
“Some firms are really focused on clamping and fines but this firm isn’t, and are more community focused and we’re more comfortable with that.
“We could have made more money with more aggressive firms.”
Planning for the new centre’s offering is scheduled to take place during the summer, as new operators are sourced to populate the 157,000sq ft site site.
Mr Smith said there are ‘some exciting announcements to make in due course’, with further updates on the progress of Marina Village and its upcoming phases of development to be announced in the coming months.
