New Islandmagee school plan progresses to application stage

A planning application has been lodged with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for a “long overdue” new primary school in Islandmagee.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Jan 2021, 17:56 BST
An artist's impression of the new Islandmagee Primary School.An artist's impression of the new Islandmagee Primary School.
An artist's impression of the new Islandmagee Primary School.

A site has been earmarked at Kilcairn, Low Road,  for a five-class building including a multi-purpose hall and two playgrounds for a 115-pupil school.

Islandmagee Primary currently operates a split site with the senior campus at the former Kilcoan Primary School and the junior pupils at Mullaghdubh. The amalgamation of the schools took place in September 2016.

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East Antrim MLA Roy Beggs has said previously that a new primary school for Islandmagee is “long overdue”.

He also commented: “This has been a long struggle by the local community to ensure that modern educational facilities are provided for this rural community.

“I hope that the planning process will be speedily completed so that we can see building work commence before too long.”

Funding for the new build was released by the Department of Education in 2016 by then Education MInister John O’Dowd as one of 10 primaries to benefit from a shared £40m funding package.

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At that stage, it had been anticipated that the new building would be open for autumn 2021.

The new-build planning consultation was launched in September with “everyone at Islandmagee Primary School excited to see the planning design boards that show the intended layout and structure of our new build”, the school said.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter

Click here to read: New build for Islandmagee Primary School moves a step closer

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Related topics:Roy BeggsIslandmageeJohn O'Dowd