Work to begin on delayed Bangor seafront project

After many false starts, work is finally set to start on the Queen's Parade development project in Bangor later this month.

Once completed, it will include new homes, a hotel, offices, a market plaza, retail, cafes and restaurants.

The seafront site in County Down has been derelict for almost 30 years and has faced years of planning delays.

Speaking on Tuesday, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said that "after years of expectation", the project would be "transformational for Bangor".

The site was bought by the Department for Communities (DfC) back in 2013 and in 2019, Bangor Marine was selected as the developer for the project.

At that time, the developer was a consortium made up of Karl Group and Farrans, who pulled out before Christmas and have since been replaced by Oakland Holdings.

The investment is expected to cost £145m, with around half of that funding (£73m) coming from the Belfast City Deal.

The developer is investing £50m, £10m has come from the UK government's Levelling Up Fund and almost £10m has been invested by the department so far.

Bangor resident Darran Gilpin said he will believe the project will get underway "when it happens".

"I'll be glad if my kids can see it. They've been talking about it since I was a youngster and nothing has happened, so they just need to get their finger out and get something started," said Mr Gilpin.

"Will somebody put another spanner in the works, which will stop things or delay things?"

He added the project could "get Bangor back to what it was".

"The lower half of the town, it's just dying," he continued. "The seafront itself, it's embarrassing really, and they just need to get it back to a lovely seaside city."

William Whiteside said he has his "fingers crossed" the project will get underway.

"[Bangor is] just so rundown, and it was a beautiful town," he said. "This whole front is just diabolical really."

"It's been put off and cancelled and put off again and cancelled so many times."

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said he was "absolutely delighted" that work could now progress.

He said he could understand that some residents might be "sceptical", given previous delays.

"We're at the end of this process but we're starting work now which is the important bit. This will be completed in its entirety over the next three to four years and I can't wait for that work to start."

Ards and North Down Mayor Alistair Cathcart described the start of work as "an important and positive milestone" but said he would "only be fully satisfied when there are "diggers on site".

Aran Blackbourne of Bangor Marine said the developer looked forward "to working with all parties to deliver this very exciting and important regeneration scheme".

John Campbell, BBC News NI business and economics editor

Bangor is the largest settlement in NI's most prosperous area and has fast transport links to Belfast.

So in theory transforming a stretch of its waterfront should have been a straightforward and commercially attractive process.

In practice there has been almost 30 years of failure and disappointment.

The property and banking crisis of the late 2000s cast a long shadow over the project, alongside the need for redesigns and the usual planning issues.

Now there is a promise that work will finally begin within weeks, though Bangor citizens will take some convincing that it has been worth the wait.

Construction on the first phase of the project, the public realm scheme, is hoped to start by the end of this month and run for 13 months.

It will include a new play park, two pavilions, kiosks with food and beverage offerings, an events space, and associated landscaping.

The second phase will be largely residential apartments and also retail. It is due to begin in October.

A hotel and office space will be included in the third phase. The fourth phase of more apartments and a cinema is expected to start in 2027, with completion due summer 2028.

January 1999: Outline planning permission for a redevelopment scheme in the Queen's Parade area is first granted.

In the coming years, the project will go through various redesigns, be held up by land acquisition issues and endure the property crash.

December 2012: The then Department for Social Development (DSD) agrees to buy the development site from developer Karl Greenfarm Properties.

2013: Approval to take forward the scheme is granted to the DSD, and work begins to acquire all the required properties within the site boundary.

July 2015: Planning approval for the development is awarded to the department.

May 2019: Bangor Marine, a joint venture partnership between Karl Group and Farrans, signs a development agreement with the DfC and council to deliver the scheme.

January 2020: The developers submit a planning application for the development.

February 2021: The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) issues a holding direction on the proposal over concerns about potential flooding at the site linked to a reservoir in Clandeboye.

March 2022: The then Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon confirms the DfI will not review the application, returning it to the council for further action, allowing the project to move forward.

September 2022: Full planning permission is granted.

January 2023: The project gets a £9.8m boost from the UK government's Levelling Up Fund.

February 2024: Pre-construction clearance work begins, in preparation for what is billed as construction work beginning later that summer.

November 2024: It is announced that work is now expected to begin in January 2025.

February 2025: Bangor Marine's Aran Blackbourne says that "outstanding legal issues" mean the expected start date for construction work is mid-April.

May 2025: Bangor Marine tells BBC News NI that legal documentation is still being finalised. Later in the month, the council confirms that Belfast-based Oakland Holdings will replace Farrans in the consortium. It says the final legal documents can now be signed to enable work to begin on site.

June 2025: The DfC announces that work will begin on the project.