PROTESTORS have branded plans to rip out a seafront park and replace it with a car park as a ‘disgrace’.
inclement weather conditions on Wednesday night to register their objections to the ‘eleventh hour’ change to the £14m Marine Gardens plans.
Holding their second protest at Bangor Castle, residents urged the local authority ‘not to make the same mistake twice’ by ‘giving cars a sea view rather than people’.
Angry residents have raised concerns not only about the loss of the parkland but also at claims the council has agreed to give a 125-year lease to developer Bangor Marine to collect the charges at the car park.
Many of the protestors held placards with the messages ‘Stop the Privatised Car Park’ and ‘Trees for ever – car park never’ as well as ‘Stop the transfer of community land into private hands for 125 years’.
Resident Linda McAuley voiced her concerns saying: “It is an absolute disgrace that our council is going to make the same mistake twice by giving cars a sea view rather than the people of Bangor.
“A (car parking) feasability study was carried out and it was found that extra car parking spaces were not needed, so it seems ridiculous that they can change their minds and put tarmac over a green space.”
Ms McAuley also raised concerns about traffic congestion saying: “There are also concerns about the amount of extra traffic that would be coming down roads like Somerset Avenue. These narrow roads don’t have the capacity for that amount of traffic.”
Resident Loren Wilson has lived in the Queen’s Parade area for nearly four decades and has called for the ‘beautiful’ park area to be retained.
“We have lived in Queen’s Parade for nearly 40 years, the marina wasn’t there when we moved in but it was being thought about. So we have lived through the noise before.”
Calling for the seafront car park plans to be scrapped, Ms Wilson said: “We want to keep the green space. I brought my family up in that area. It is a beautiful area that is appreciated by so many people from around the world.
Speaking against the car park plans, resident Ian Rodgers said local people and visitors admire the historic terraced properties along Queen’s Parade and the proposals would ‘ruin the last piece of Victorian vista’ in the town.
Mr Rodgers said it was ‘vital’ that this connection to the town’s rich heritage was maintained and the green space ‘should not be sold into private hands’.
