Flood scheme work chance to ‘unleash Islands Park potential’

Flood scheme work chance to ‘unleash Islands Park potential’

24 February 2021

WORK on Newcastle’s eagerly-awaited £6.5m Shimna River flood alleviation scheme presents an opportunity to also upgrade the Islands Park in the resort.

The idea has been floated by South Down MLA Colin McGrath and Mournes councillor Laura Devlin, who are keen to see Newry, Mourne and Down Council upgrade the park at Bryansford Avenue.

A number of locations were left under several feet of water last August after a high tide and heavy rain during Storm Francis flooded a significant number of homes in the Bryansford Road, Bryansford Avenue, Larchfield, Shimna Road, Shimna Vale and Bryansford Gardens areas.

Preliminary work on the flood alleviation scheme is currently underway and involves tree clearance work ahead of contractors starting work in the summer on a major scheme to protect around 300 homes in the resort.

Mr McGrath and Cllr Devlin are keen to see council officials address a number of issues at Islands Park and hope that the start of work on the Shimna River scheme does just that.

Mr McGrath said that given the number of people who use Islands Park daily, there was a substantial need for adequate lighting to be provided throughout the park and the current car park and entrance to be upgraded.

And while he admits this is a major scheme, he argued that not enough attention is paid to part of the resort which is widely used. He also confirmed that he has raised his concerns with local authority officials.

“If the will is there, I have absolutely no doubt that we can make this happen and really unleash the park’s full potential,” declared Mr McGrath.

“As things stand, the park is being wasted and with ongoing work on the food alleviation scheme continuing, this represents a unique opportunity to develop Islands Park and treat it with the respect and care it rightly deserves.”

Mr McGrath said the park was opened by former Down Council chairman Michael Boyd in 1990 and dedicated to former Newcastle councillor Paddy O’Donoghue. 

“The plaque has fallen into a state of disrepair as have the entry barriers to the park itself. This level of disrepair is only a pre-amble to what visitors are treated to in the park itself,” he added.

Cllr Devlin agreed that with preliminary work on the flood scheme underway, now was the time to begin looking at the recovery of Islands Park. 

“There are a number of elements to how this could be delivered,” she explained. “We know the paths and car park are in major need of an upgrade and visitors, including those on foot, with prams or wheelchair users, need to feel as though they can enjoy the park.

“We are aware that the car park urgently needs addressed given the sheer volume of traffic that make use of it. The other issue that needs to be addressed is lighting.”

Work on the flood alleviation scheme is expected to take around one year to complete and involves the construction of new flood walls which will emanate from the Bryansford Road bridge with the anticipated length of new flood defences in the region of 1,400 metres.

The detailed design of the flood alleviation scheme has been complete for some time and was remodelled to ensure the most up-to-date information from Storm Francis was incorporated in the design.

Once the tree clearing work has been completed, the main work on the flood alleviation scheme is scheduled to start in the summer.