By Sarah Curran
THE granting of planning permission for a 3G football pitch in Portavogie is a ‘victory for common sense’, a councillor has said.
Following a lengthy campaign to deliver a modern sporting facility in Portavogie, spanning 15 years, Ards and North Down’s Planning Committee finally gave the green light on a 3G football pitch for the fishing village on Tuesday evening.
The scheme aims to replace the village’s ageing grass pitch with an all- weather surface and upgraded facilities, addressing long-standing concerns from local clubs about inadequate provision compared to other areas.
Welcoming the news, which will need to be ratified by the full council later this month, Ards peninsula councillor Robert Adair stressed that while there may still be hurdles to overcome for the delivery of the sporting facility, the council could ‘not drop the ball any longer’.
The delivery of the project will require an updated business case and land acquisition.
Mr Adair said: “This is a victory for common sense and shows what determination can do when you don’t take no for an answer.
“We were told with the NI Water objection and the DfI objection we would never get planning permission but last night (Tuesday) we did.
“It sends a very clear message that we are determined people and we are resolute to seeing this project delivered.”
Mr Adair stated that the council now needed to push the project forward, noting how a previous application for the same facility which had been granted had lapsed back in 2018, with the fresh application encountering objections from statutory bodies.
“We can’t afford any more delays because we can’t afford for planning permission to run out for the second time,” he said, noting that it had taken six years to overcome objections by DfI and NI Water.
Also welcoming the news, councillor Joe Boyle said that while there were still ‘hurdles to overcome’ he could sigh with relief that planning permission had been granted.
He said: “This is great news for Portavogie and has been a lengthy journey of many years of which many of the elected members currently on council may not have been fully across.
“Having been there myself from the get go, I remember stating that this process, even though the council were effectively ‘re-carpeting’ what they already owned, wouldn’t happen overnight, but equally I didn’t anticipate the number of years that it would take addressing problem after problem and getting over obstacle after obstacle.”
The SDLP councillor continued: “Of course there are still hurdles to overcome such as lands purchasing, costs and the preparation of a business case, etc., but to actually have planning permission at this stage is a major factor.
“I thank and congratulate our officers and planners for their persistence and expertise on getting this application to this stage.”
Mr Boyle, who is chairperson of the Ards and North Down Sports Forum, said it was always great to see investment put into enhancing or creating new sporting facilities in the borough.
He added that it was particularly good to see this investment along the peninsula, noting that it was ‘somewhat geographically isolated from similar facilities already in
place in other areas across the borough’.
Mr Boyle added: “It is also important that the council equally delivers on the other half of its commitment by progressing with the 3G facility for the GAA and residual football and other activities sited and located in Portaferry, thus becoming the first council provided GAA facility in the entire Ards and North Down Borough – a facility that will be greatly welcomed by everyone.”
