Those behind the long-awaited Queen’s Parade redevelopment for Bangor say they are " determined, committed and confident" they can deliver the scheme to Northern Ireland's newest city.
A revised schedule of works has just been submitted to Ards and North Down Council, which will allow the planning process to be brought to a conclusion.
In March the Co Down resort, which has just been awarded city status to mark the Queen's platinum jubilee, received a welcome boost with news that the £50 million project had finally been given the green light.
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The project had been held up in a Stormont department for over a year due to flooding concerns.
News that the investment plan for the Queen's Parade area, approved by the council in January 2021, would not be “called in” by former Infrastructure Minister Nicola Mallon and instead be returned to the council to finish the application process, was warmly welcomed.
The proposed scheme, developed by Bangor Marine Ltd, will see extensive work to a run-down area of the city.
It aims to transform the seafront area and those living there have been waiting more than 20 years for the site to be redeveloped.
Elected council members as well as local residents had become increasingly incensed at the hold up by the Rivers Agency.
DfI said it had been carrying out an assessment on the planning application in relation to it falling within the flood inundation zone of Clandeboye Lake.
The lake is over two miles away, and land between the lake and the seafront had continued to see planning applications approved without intervention.
But the local council's planning approval, granted over a year ago, will now require further ratification in light of potential issues raised by DfI's flooding assessments.
In a statement, Aran Blackbourne from Bangor Marine Ltd, said: " The revised schedule of works now submitted to Ards and North Down Borough Council will allow the planning process to be brought to a conclusion.
"We’ll then be pushing on with getting everything in place to begin actual construction work. Our original programme was a year from planning approval to on-site activity, and we’re still working towards that.
"There’s a lot of work to do but we remain determined, committed and confident that we can deliver this future fit and sustainable scheme to the city of Bangor," he added.
Bangor Marine’s vision will see a new 66 bedroom hotel, offices, apartments, a boutique cinema and public squares over the area currently occupied by a car park and the Project 24 art pods.
It will also demolish the car park on the seaward side of Queen’s Parade, replacing it with a new pedestrian-friendly recreational area including event spaces and a children’s play zone, a move designed to reconnect the town with its own coastline.
All the pedestrian areas, both those on the seaward side and those winding through the development to link Queen’s Parade with Main Street, will open to the public 24/7, which officials have compared to a similar approach taken by Belfast city centre's Victoria Square.
The Queen’s Parade project will create approximately 100 jobs per annum during construction and a 700 further roles once it is “operational.”
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