NIO Minister Lends Support to Bangor City Investment Plans

Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Steve Baker, heard first-hand about the exciting regeneration plans in development for Northern Ireland’s newest city on a visit to Bangor recently.

The Minister enjoyed a tour of the waterfront area of the city with Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Jennifer Gilmour, and Council Chief Executive Stephen Reid.

to be very popular, particularly during the recent spell of good weather, and I expect many more will use them during the summer months ahead. These new spaces provide an ideal place to enjoy a break, take a moment to eat or drink, or just enjoy a chat with friends and family.”

Ards and North Down Borough Council was awarded a total of £1.75m through the Covid-19 Recovery Revitalisation Programme, allowing the Council to support a range of projects in our city, towns and villages. For more information, visit ardsandnorthdown. gov.uk.

He visited Queen’s Parade, an area of dereliction that is shortly to be regenerated by Bangor Marine, a joint venture between Farrans and the Karl Group. Aran Blackbourne of Bangor Marine outlined to the Minister the company’s plans for a mixed-use development on the site including new homes, a hotel, retail, office, community, cultural and recreational spaces, in addition to eateries and the creation of new public squares and courtyards. This represents an investment of £50M+, including £9.8M from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund that was secured in January of this year. The Levelling Up funding will be used to deliver the Marine Gardens (Public Realm) element of the wider redevelopment scheme.

The Minister then met with Council and DfC officials at Bangor Court House, which has recently been restored by Open House into a music and arts venue that provides a permanent home for the charity.

(L-R) Susie McCullough (Director of Place, Ards and North Down Borough Council); Gerard Murray (Director of Regional Development, Department for Communities); Councillor Jennifer Gilmour (Mayor of Ards and North Down Borough Council); Steve Baker (Minister of State for Northern Ireland); Aran Blackbourne (Bangor Marine) and Stephen Reid (Chief Executive of Ards and North Down Borough Council).

He heard about the Council’s plan to redevelop a 2-mile stretch of Bangor’s coastline, from Skippingstone Beach to Ballyholme, as part of the

Be Better Connected this summer travel to open house Festival by Bus or rail

Translink is once again partnering with Bangor’s Open House Festival this summer to encourage everyone to take public transport to the much-loved events.

Visitors to Bangor’s major summer festival can enjoy a fun and great value day out by choosing from a range of offers including

Belfast Region City Deal.

The ambitious ‘Bangor Waterfront Redevelopment’ complements the Queen’s Parade plans and aims to deliver a significant boost to tourism and to encourage further investment in the city and wider Ards and North Down Borough.

It involves regenerating existing assets including Bangor’s 5 Anchor Marina and the popular family attraction, Pickie Fun Park, as well as significant development and improvement of public spaces. There are also plans to deliver a ‘Phase 2’ to the recently opened Court House music venue and to develop an international watersports facility at a new-look Ballyholme Yacht Club Watersports Centre. the Family & Friends Ticket offering up to two adults and four children unlimited bus and train day travel for just £23, or 25% off NI Railways day return tickets after 9.30am.

For those heading to Open House Festival’s popular Picnic in the Park - which is hosted at Ward Park from 3-5pm every Sunday in July and August and features a wide range of local bands - there’s the Sunday Day Tracker ticket for £9/£4.50 (adult/ child) which offers unlimited travel across the rail network. For full details plus information on all other fare offers, and resources to help plan your journey, visit www.translink.co.uk.