Planning permission is secured for sports park

Planning permission is secured for sports park

5 February 2025

FORMAL planning approval for Downpatrick’s new £500,000 urban sports park will be rubber-stamped this morning.

The ultra-modern facility – which features a pump track for cyclists and a skateboard park – will be built at Dunleath Park, with an official sod cutting ceremony having taken place recently on what is being described as a “cutting edge facility”.

The investment in an 80-metre pump track, incorporating a dynamic series of banked turns and undulations, alongside a state-of-the-art 400 square metre skatepark, is being financed by the Department for Communities and Newry, Mourne and Down Council.

The skatepark, which is being constructed by civil engineering and construction firm CivCo Ltd, will include ramps and grind rails as trick features, offering an exciting and modern space for urban sports enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels.

The government department is providing just over £439,032.28, with the local authority chipping in with just over £74,500, with the combined £513,559 investment aiming to deliver state-of-the-art facilities designed to enhance community health and wellbeing while revitalising the local area.

There are also plans to transform the current shale sports pitch at Dunleath Park into an ultra-modern 3G facility, with the 7.km walking track around the perimeter of the park proving hugely popular and the base for the weekly Saturday morning parkrun.

Members of Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s Planning Committee will formally approve the ne sports park which is the latest development at the expansive sports facility which borders Thomas Russell Park and the Ballydugan Road industrial estate and stretching as far back as housing developments at the Vianstown Road.

Local politicians and the Downpatrick Regeneration Working Group want to see Dunleath Park’s significant development potential fully utilised and are delighted work is underway on the new pump track.

A working group has also been established to help oversee the park’s development.

In planning papers made public ahead of today’s council meeting, it is confirmed that no work can start on the eagerly-awaited project, planners say that in respect of concerns around noise, nuisance and disturbance, a skate park and pump track would not result in any more noise than a group of children playing on the existing open space.

In addition, planners say there would be no increased vehicular noise over the traffic on St Patrick’s Avenue or parking at the nearby cinema, given there is no provision of specific parking at this facility.

Planners also say the sports park will not harm neighbouring residents in terms of visual impact, noise, nuisance, disturbance or loss of amenity.

The planning papers also confirm that DfI Rivers have confirmed the location of the sports park does not lie within the town or coastal flood plains, while a condition of the planning approval requires a programme of archaeological investigation work is carried out at the site.

Stormont Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said his department was pleased to provide significant funding for the development.

He said the “exciting addition to the sporting landscape of Downpatrick will provide a dynamic new space that supports health, community and economic growth in the area”.