Gilford, Rathfriland and Keady have been identified by ABC Borough Council as priority localities for Place Plan reviews, to be followed by Markethill and Tandragee as part of a second phase, when resources become available.
A place plan is a document that sets out proposals for the development and use for the specific area, which ultimately aims to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of the place, ensuring aspirations of the community are being realised.
It is anticipated that it will then take up to 15 months to complete the three Place Plan reviews from the appointment of a consultant team, allowing sufficient time for equality screening.
The team will continue to seek external funding for the delivery of future projects.
The plans were discussed at last Wednesday’s (September 10) ABC Governance, Resources & Strategy committee meeting, with Councillor Joy Ferguson welcoming the announcement.
The Alliance representative for Banbridge DEA stated at the meeting: “I ought to put on record my thanks to Elaine [Gillespie, head of Community Planning, Policy & Research] and her team for bringing forward this report.
“It has gone through a number of iterations, and it’s great to see it coming forward tonight.
“So, I’m happy to propose this in support of smaller towns. There is a clear need for smaller towns to acquire investment and a coordinated approach to development, particularly towns such as Rathfriland and Gilford, where residents often feel forgotten as they watch the heart of their towns become derelict and vacant.
“These areas of need have strong community resilience and much civic pride in their area, and that’s why I proposed this piece of work in February 2024 in this committee, to explore potential local development solutions for those smaller towns in need.
“I’m delighted to see Keady, Rathfriland and Gilford will be included in the first phase of local development. They are areas in much need of a strategic and coordinated approach to development.
“The proposed plans are certainly not a panacea for full regeneration. What it will do is provide much needed coordination of public ideas from all community, voluntary, sporting and business organisations, to kick-start regeneration from an all-community perspective.
“In an era when funding is limited, the right choice of delivery is so important.
“These plans will allow for good regeneration choices and the redirection of funds to the right solution.
“Therefore, I’m very happy to propose this report. Support for these areas is now critical.”
Councillor Kevin Savage (SF, Banbridge DEA) also welcomed the announcement.
“It’s just to echo what Cllr Ferguson stated. This has taken time from last year to now, and I appreciate all the work that Elaine and her team have put into this, the research and the evidence-gathering that they’ve had, and the time they’ve taken to go through [everything] with different members, about how they came to their conclusions on Gilford, Rathfriland and Keady,” said Cllr Savage.
“This will be a stepping stone for these smaller towns on a longer path of generation. It will take time, but it is a good first step.”
Councillor Tim McClelland was more sceptical about the feasibility of including every single identified locality as part of the Place Plan vision, bearing in mind that the list of towns and villages which ABC Council would like to promote also includes Aghagallon, Bleary, Dollingstown, Donaghcloney, Drumnacanvy, Hamiltonsbawn, Kinallen, Laurelvale/Mullavilly, Magheralin, Richhill and Waringstown.
The DUP representative for Lagan River DEA) commented: “My question is around the 10 or 12 villages that are listed. Being completely realistic, what are the chances of most of the locations on this list actually benefiting at some point down the line?”
The head of Community Planning, Policy & Research replied: “We have quite a list of towns and villages there. [It is] the first time that we have developed Place Plan reviews for towns and villages of this size.
“So, part of this will be a test bed, for us as Council, to see what the benefit is for these local places when we develop these types of Place Plan reviews.
“There will be upcoming opportunity, I do still believe, through the likes of Peace+, for us to look at place planning work for other places.
“And like I said, once we get into this Place Plan review process for the three areas we’re going to initially start with, members at that point may want to take evaluation of how that has gone, and consideration of whether they want to allocate further funding for any future Place Plan reviews for other towns and villages.”
The recommendation to approve Place Plan reviews in Gilford, Rathfriland and Keady, followed by Markethill and Tandragee, was proposed by Cllr Ferguson and seconded by Cllr Kevin Savage.
