BANGOR’S long awaited £50m revamp of Queen’s Parade was due to clear its final planning hurdle last night. Just as the Spectator went to press, local politicians were preparing to convene a special meeting of Ards and North Down Council’s Planning Committee to sign off on the project. The council had originally approved the scheme 18 months ago, but it was delayed for more than a year by the doomsday flood fears of civil servants in Stormont’s Department for Infrastructure (DfI) – and that delay has forced the committee to hold a special meeting this week. Civil servants were worried that a corner of the project could be hit if a lake in a private estate three miles away from the seafront should catastrophically fail and send its entire contents sweeping through the streets of Bangor. Those fears saw thenInfrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon put the project on hold, which was supposed to be a temporary measure to give her officials time to mull over the issue. That temporary pause was extended time and again, and it wasn’t until March this year that the minister finally allowed the scheme to carry on. She didn’t come to any conclusion on the flood fears, however, instead ruling that Queen’s Parade was not of such overwhelming importance to all of Northern Ireland that a provincewide body like the DfI needed to get involved in making decisions about it The long delay has forced local planners to give Queen’s Parade a new hearing, however, as the council’s Planning Committee is legally compelled to consider any and all specific issues that may have cropped up since the scheme was initially approved in January 2021. Last night’s meeting was set up to give developers Bangor Marine a chance to appear before the committee, followed by a ruling on whether or not to approve Queen’s Parade for a second time. Official documents seen by the Spectator reveal that planners want to see the scheme win approval from the committee once more – and they also don’t think there’s any need to go back to the DfI asking for civil servants’ views again, should the project be signed off for a second time. Some minor alterations to the project have been suggested during the 18-month delay, including widening Southwell Road to turn it partially two-way in order to make access to underground car parking easier, and erecting extra safety screens during the construction process. The special committee meeting should mean that all remaining legislative obstacles to the project are finally overcome and construction work can begin. Aran Blackbourne from Bangor Marine has in the past said that building work would likely begin on site around a year after finally planning permission is granted, meaning Bangor could likely expect to see workmen arriving next summer. The Queen’s Parade £50m regeneration scheme will see a new hotel, offices, apartments, a boutique cinema and public squares built over an area currently occupied by a car park and the Project 24 art pods. It will also demolish the car park on the seaward side of Queen’s Parade, replacing it with a new pedestrian-friendly recreational area including event spaces and a children’s play zone, a move designed to reconnect Bangor with its own coastline. All pedestrian areas, both those on the seaward side and those winding through the development to link Queen’s Parade with Main Street, will be open to the public 24/7, which officials have compared to a similar approach taken by Belfast city centre’s Victoria Square.
