'All we want is for them to adhere to the plans we've been waiting to see built for the last 40 years' - Residents take to the streets as park to be ripped up for parking lot in 'eleventh hour' change to £60m project
Residents of a seaside city are to take to the streets, after an ‘eleventh hour’ change to decades-delayed £60m construction scheme could see a park paved over to become a parking lot.
Work on a massive overhaul of the Queen’s Parade part of Bangor properly started on-site last September. Supposed to turn around the fortunes of the Co Down city’s struggling seafront, the revamp has been on the cards since the 1990s but has been a thorn in the side of locals as ideas came and went for a spot that at one point was voted Northern Ireland’s biggest eyesore in a TV poll.
But area residents were recently shocked to discover plans had been altered to demolish a small park, Marine Gardens, to put in a parking lot.
The move is sparking a protest outside Bangor City Hall this evening and has seen the city’s MP, independent unionist Alex Easton, suggest the idea would “utterly spoil the whole direction of the project”.
A spokesman for residents told the News Letter their “jaws hit the floor” when the park demolition was unveiled to them, not least as the work that’s happened so far scrapped a 200-space car park next to the site of threatened Marine Gardens.
“We were told they’re putting in a larger than planned children’s play park, so they now need a 90-space car park next to it,” he said. “We couldn’t believe it.
“This is a much-used, much-loved green space that connects our area to the seafront. It’s got squirrels and hedgehogs in the bushes, in spring there’s birds, and in summer kids and their families have picnics there – yet they want to destroy it for a small car park, having just got rid of a larger facility.
“Parking is available throughout the heart of Bangor; it’s piecemeal, but it’s there. We do not see how this could be justified.”
The £60m revamp is a joint project of a conglomerate of property developers along with Stormont’s Department for Communities (DfC) and Ards and North Down Council, the latter’s involvement sparking tonight’s city hall protest.
“Our protest tonight is just the start of the campaign, trying to raise awareness of the situation as we fight to save Marine Gardens,” added the spokesman. “All we want is for them to adhere to the plans we’ve been waiting to see built for the last 40 years.”
Mr Easton said it is “a totally backwards step” to turn a “little paradise into a new car park”.
“This arrangement is the worst of both worlds,” said the MP.”Ninety spaces will not solve parking issues for busy times, and destroying a strip of green space and trees is a very destructive way to go forward.
"A better solution would be to listen to the local people and visitors who value this green space, which sits at the very start of a walk to North Down Coastal Path.”
A council spokeswoman said the project’s developers “signalled” that they might want to rework their plans last October, and but are still working on the idea and any changes will need a planning application.
“The council, working with the DfC, will consider [final plans] in relation to the overall objectives of the redevelopment and its economic, social and environmental benefits for Bangor,” she added.