Talks on distributor road delay

Talks on distributor road delay

4 December 2024

LOCAL politicians will this morning discuss the lack of progress on developing a new road around Downpatrick.

Members of Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s Planning Committee will discuss a motion on the eastern distributor road which, it is claimed, has the potential to generate 

millions of pounds in rates income and help tackle town centre congestion.

The road will link the Belfast and Ballyhoran roads via the Strangford, Rathkeltair and Saul roads.

Six years ago, its  cost — including land acquisition — was estimated at £18.5m with the bill largely met by developers as new housing schemes were developed at this part of the town.

A feasibility study into the proposed two mile long road, which features three new roundabouts and a major upgrade of the Rathkeltair Road, has already been completed.

Local politicians have previously discussed the new road as one of the key building blocks in the area plan which outlines the future development of the district.

Today, members of the Planning Committee will discuss the issue again following a proposal by Downpatrick councillor Cadogan Enright.

The Department for Infrastructure has previously insisted the new road is not economically viable, suggesting construction costs should be met by developers as new housing developments progressed.

Last July, ambitious plans were unveiled to build 1,100 new homes on a huge swathe of land between the Saul and Ballyhornan roads as part of a £250m investment in what is the biggest ever private development proposed for Downpatrick.

The new homes will be built either side of the eastern distributor road, with a site for a new primary school included in the multi-million pound mixed use residential development proposal.

Cllr Enright said the local authority has an important role to play exercising its planning powers to pave the way for future housing developments to help pay for the new road. 

He said the organisation was told in 2018 by a former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Infrastructure that it should use its powers to help finance the new road by granting planning approval for new homes along the route of the new road.

Cllr Enright contends that the failure to do this to date has potentially cost the local authority almost £2m in lost rates revenue.

He said the distributor road is part of Downpatrick’s master plan and features a new bridge linking the Finnebrogue and Rathkeltair roads to bypass the Strangford, Saul and Ballyhornan roads to link up with the only section of the distributor road so far completed outside the Downe Hospital at the Ardglass Road.

Cllr Enright said the proposed road would support around 3,200 potential new homes based on land zoned under the current area plan and help traffic avoid what he described as Downpatrick’s “medieval town centre roads network”.

He said homes in this commuter belt have a rateable value of up to £2,000 per annum, but assuming the rates value was only £1,600, then 3,200 units would increase the council’s rates base by £5.12m per annum at current day prices when the homes are built.

Cllr Enright said a former DfI Permanent Secretary had a very clear message and described the way forward for Downpatrick as a “chicken or egg” scenario. 

“At a cost of £17m, the distributor road did not meet Roads Service economic criteria based on current traffic, but would meet economic criteria when the 3,200 equivalent homes were built and it’s difficult to see how they can be constructed without a road,” he argued.