14 June 2006
KILCOOLEY GETS £80,000 PLAY PARK
An £80,000 play park, designed to meet the needs of local people, was officially opened at Kilcooley estate in Bangor today.
The idea for the play park came from the Kilcooley Playground Action Group and was taken forward by North Down Borough Council and the North Down Strategy Partnership as part of the Government's Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy. It is equipped with the latest leisure equipment and has a child friendly surface.
Councillor Alan Leslie, Mayor of North Down, carried out the opening ceremony today accompanied by Henry Johnston, Director of the DSD Regional Development Office, and Michael Dunlop, Chairperson of the Local Strategy Partnership.
The total cost of almost £80,000 is comprised of £47,920 from the DSD Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, £20,000 from North Down Borough Council, £10,000 from the EU Peace II programme through North Down Local Strategy Partnership and £1,500 from Kilcooley Playground Action Group.
Henry Johnston said: "It is good to see the end result of an active partnership between the local community, statutory and local government bodies to regenerate the Kilcooley area through Neighbourhood Renewal.
"In this case, the partners - the Kilcooley Playground Action Group, the North Down Borough Council and the North Down Local Strategy Partnership - all have worked well together to bring an idea to fruition. This investment will bring significant benefits to local people, both in physical regeneration of the area and in providing facilities for the community to grow.
"It also contributes to the delivery of the Department's Neighbourhood Renewal objectives of tackling community, physical and social deprivation within deprived areas in Northern Ireland over the next eight years".
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy 'People and Place' can be obtained from the DSD website - www.dsdni.gov.uk
Community information can be obtained from the Kilcooley Forum website - www.kilcooley.org
Neighbourhood Renewal Areas have been created around the urban areas shown in the official deprivation measures to be among the most disadvantaged 10% of areas in Northern Ireland.
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