Donard Park plans behind closed doors

Donard Park plans behind closed doors

21 September 2022

MOVES to address anti-social behaviour issues at Newcastle’s Donard car park will tomorrow night be discussed in secret by local politicians.

Proposals to address issues caused by young drivers who congregate at the resort’s busiest car park — especially at weekends — will be discussed behind-closed-doors during a Newry, Mourne and Down Council committee meeting.

Local politicians, council officials and police have been working to combat the trouble at the local authority-owned car park which is particularly disturbing for elderly and vulnerable residents and young families who live nearby.

Issues at the car park, where work on a £250,000 scheme to create much-needed new spaces is well underway, regularly spill on to the Shimna and Bryansford roads, with many residents calling for the problem to be dealt with. 

While the anti-social behaviour relates to car horns blaring, revving engines and exhausts backfiring, there is also particular concern about the speed of vehicles in the area.

Proposals to redesign the layout of the car park have been drawn up and discussed with residents who live in the Fold housing development for senior citizens and other residents who have given them the thumbs up.

But despite this, the proposals will be discussed in secret by members of the local authority’s Active and Healthy Communities Committee when it meets tomorrow night.

The agenda for the meeting says discussion on the car park issue is “restricted” under the local government act.

It is understood that several options on the future management of Donard Park have been examined with the agreed way forward expected to be rubber-stamped tomorrow night.

Councillors say they are keen to see a robust response to the late night disturbances at the car park which have been going on for some time. Previously, police agreed to increase patrols at this part of the resort.

Donard car park has become a magnet for young drivers revving car engines and sounding their horns with the ongoing problems recently topping the agenda during a meeting of the district’s Policing and Community Safety Partnership.

The car park is surrounded by residential accommodation which is home to many elderly and Mournes councillor Laura Devlin says local politicians and residents are aware of the significant anti-social behaviour taking place at the car park and not just at weekends.

“We have car horns beeping, exhausts backfiring and general anti-social behaviour which spills over on to the Shimna and Bryansford roads and on up towards Castlewellan,” she said in a video message posted online.

“This may not sound that much to people, but if you are living in this area with that constant noise and din when you are trying to sleep, particularly for those who are elderly or have young children, it is a bit of a nightmare.

“Anti-social behaviour is primarily a policing issue but Newry, Mourne and Down Council owns Donard park so it is trying to see if it can make some changes to the layout which might reduce the anti-social behaviour that is going on.”

Cllr Devlin said proposals on the way forward were drawn up and it was deemed important to consult with Fold residents and others who live nearby.

“The proposals were well received and these now have to go through the council committee structure to get the necessary approval so we can proceed to slightly change the car park layout to respect the residents who live in the area and do our bit to try and help reduce anti-social behaviour,” she added.