INVEST NI has been criticised for failing to attract any firms to a 19-acre business park in Bangor over the last 10 years.
North Down MLA Peter Martin has now called on Invest NI to allow others to seek investment in the Balloo South Business Park, on Enterprise Road which was originally intended to house major companies and substantial warehouses.
The site is zoned for large industrial use but Mr Martin has pointed out that nothing has happened at the business park over the last 10 years.
Although one large warehouse and a handful of smaller buildings were constructed after it first opened, large tracts lie fallow – little more than empty patches of waste ground.
Mr Martin recently questioned the Economy Minister Conor Murphy on the situation with the business park who admitted ‘no land has been sold nor developed’ at the site over the past 10 years.
The Minister added: “Invest NI will continue to market the estate as an attractive investment location and pursue property interests from those businesses meeting its intervention criteria.”
Mr Martin said he was shocked that Invest NI has done nothing with the land for 10 years ‘despite the demand for new units in Bangor.
“North Down would benefit from the economic boost that development of this site could provide,” he said. ” Organisations such as the North Down Development Organisation (NDDO) are keen to take the land and build new units.
“There is a serious concern about the commitment of Invest NI to grow the economy in North Down,” continued the DUP politician.
“Invest NI’s new strategy is to focus outside the greater Belfast area. If this was them focusing on North Down, where for over 10 years there has been no land sold or developed at this 19 acre Balloo site, what will their focus on elsewhere look like for us?
“They need to have a serious rethink of the impact that their lack of action is having on local economic growth. “
Pointing to recent commitments to develop new property programmes, an Invest NI spokeswoman said they’re ‘happy to explore options with local stakeholders to maximise the potential of Balloo South Business Park’.