'Ballyclare - it's a derelict wee town'
I AM writing this letter on May Fair morning. I came into Ballyclare via the Doagh Road. To get to my business I had to detour via Ballynure. The main street is closed on Tuesday 25/5 and Saturday 29/5.
Why did Newtownabbey Council decide years ago to destroy Ballyclare?
Over 50 years ago, I first came to Ballyclare for social reasons. Later I remained for business reasons. In the 1950s Ballyclare was a bustling, thriving market town which supplied the surrounding countryside with all its necessities.
At the bottom of the Main Street and Ballynure Road there were two large grocery shops which supplied provisions and animal feeding stuffs; there were two confectionery/newsagent shops, a butchers shop and two chemists.
At the bridge on the Main Street was a thriving taxi service and garage. In the Square there were three hardware shops which supplied a wide range of goods including farm machinery. There was also a large grocery business and a chemist shop. In the North End there were many shops and a very well established grocery business.
In those days the May Fair was welcomed. It caused only a minor inconvenience. The Main Street was never closed and local people could proceed up and down the street, albeit slowly. On May Fair morning people drove into the Square to buy their bedding plants.
Contrast all this with now!
At the bottom of the town absolute dereliction. Shops have been flattened and virtually all that remains is an empty row of terrace houses in advanced disrepair. It looks like Belfast High Street after the blitz - all we need are the escapologists with their straitjackets and the whip crackers.
At the bridge the garage has gone. Beside it a large empty department store. In the Square a similar picture of dilapidation. A huge empty department store, windows either boarded up or broken. Where there were two public houses - an empty space. The North End has fared even worse. Around the recently built roundabout - what a traffic stopper it is - are rows of shops and businesses in total disrepair and awaiting the bulldozers. The livestock market which attracted much custom to the town disappeared.
How did all this happen? Was it deliberate or are the councillors inadequate or uncaring?
In the 1950s Ballyclare had its own council, a council which was basically non-political and was made up largely of local businessmen who had a stake in the town.
Regrettably, later Ballyclare was merged with Newtownabbey and the local council disbanded. Also local councils were politicised and councillors were able to earn respectable salaries through attendance allowances and travelling expenses. They have little or no direct stake in Ballyclare.
They allowed no parking zones to be introduced. Initially, at the bottom of the town and one can follow the decline of Ballyclare as the double yellow line disease spread. It spread up the Main Street into the Square and then into the North End.
Decay followed its advance. Even the sick and infirm were not spared as they attempted to get a prescription.
Newtownabbey Council then introduced parking charges in the Square and Harrier Way car parks. They did leave some free spaces which appear to have been taken up by second hand car sales. It also created a problem of traffic congestion on the Doagh Road.
With the help of the Road Services and the Water Department they organized rotational closure of roads in and around Ballyclare effectively preventing anyone from entering the town.
Well over a million pounds was spent on pavements in the Square and Main Street. This work necessitated the closure of roads for long periods. There was at one time an escape route down Park Street but it was closed.
How much business did the refurbishment of the Square bring to Ballyclare? Newtownabbey Council waken up and make an effort to return Ballyclare to its former self.
Yours faithfully,
Disillusioned.
Name and address supplied.
NEWTOWNABBEY Borough Council has responded to this letter by stressing that Ballyclare town centre has a bright future ahead.
A spokesperson for the council said: "Over the past few years Ballyclare town centre has suffered from a decline in retail spending and unfortunately a number of properties in the town remain vacant. Many other town centres have experienced similar problems.
"The recent improvements to the paving and the streetscape in Ballyclare have enhanced the town centre for everyone in the town and for visitors. A more attractive town centre will help to encourage private investment that will in time lead to the revitalisation of the town centre. "The Council and the Chamber of Trade have been working together to try to develop other initiatives and events that can help to attract shoppers into the town centre. For example, a voucher book to encourage shoppers into the town in the run up to Christmas, events at the half term break in October and for the first time a busking festival is planned for September 11.
"Work is also underway on a masterplan for Ballyclare. The Council and the Department for Social Development are about to start a consultation process on the Ballyclare and Glengormley master plans. These plans set out the vision for sustainable regeneration in the borough's towns, and the consultation process enables residents and traders to have their say. The plans will be on display in Glengormley (at a venue to be confirmed) and the Town Hall, Ballyclare during the week beginning June 28, and following that in Mossley Mill."
Also commenting on these initiatives, Newtownabbey's new Mayor Alderman Paula Bradley commented: "The Council is working with the Chamber of Trade and the Department for Social Development to help with the regeneration of the Ballyclare town centre in the long-term. This work will take time, money and vision. There is great enthusiasm for this and I hope we can channel all this into turning a new vision for Ballyclare into a reality.
"We are in challenging times and any initiatives that can bring people into the town centre are good if they can introduce potential new customers to the town's shops. Some new clothing and footwear shops have opened in the last few years and the town is becoming recognised now for the shopping experience it can now offer.
"Several of the shops in Ballyclare took part recently in a charity fashion show in the Theatre at The Mill. The feedback from that was that people did not realise there was so much on offer in Ballyclare. In the short-term we can build on this and continue to encourage more people, both local and visitors, to give Ballyclare a go as a shopping destination."
The masterplans can also be downloaded from the website www.newtownabbey.gov.uk/masterplans from June 28. For more information, contact Lisa O'Kane on 028 9034 0052.
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Weather for Newtownabbey
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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