Community centre is agreed for Ballykinlar

Community centre is agreed for Ballykinlar

21 September 2016

BALLYKINLAR is one step closer to getting a community centre.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council is on the verge of agreeing to purchase the site of the former Kindle Primary School from the Education Authority for the knock-down price of £50,000.

Last week the council’s most powerful committee agreed to a recommendation that the decision by the Education Authority to cut the price from £80,000 represented good value for money and should be seized upon.

The full council must now approve the purchase decision by the Strategic, Policy and Resources Committee but this is expected to be a formality.

Council director, Michael Lipsett, told the committee members on Thursday night that once the purchase has been formally agreed the council will commission a full economic appraisal and business case for the best option for a new 523 square metre community centre.

Downpatrick councillor Gareth Sharvin said the search for a community centre for the village has been ongoing for a long time. “Ballykinlar does require a community facility and I think it would revitalise the area,” he said.

Councillor Willie Clarke said the legacy Down Council spent five or six years trying to secure the former Kindle School and he said there will be delight that it now looks likely.

“This is only the start of the process. It is now about getting the other partners involved in this to see what we can do with this piece of land,” he said.

Two feasibility studies carried out by Down Council in 2009 and 2013 identified the need for community facilities in Ballykinlar. Separate studies carried out by the former South Eastern Education and Library Board also said there was a need for a full time youth worker and dedicated youth rooms within the village.

In 2009 the site was valued at a whopping £595,660 but over the years the subsequent valuations have reduced, particularly after vandals destroyed the former school building. In February last year it had reduced to £80,000 before the Education Authority decided to reduce it further to £50,000.