Mourne’s Sinn Féin Councillor Willie Clarke has called for a stretch of recreational beach to be created along Newcastle Promenade.
Cllr Clarke said: “This part of the beach needs to cleansed and maintained to a high quality standard. I have been inundated by members of the public through social media for improvements to be carried out to Newcastle beach. In this age of digital technology, photographs of poorly maintained open spaces can be very damaging for our Tourism product.
“This is an issue that I have been lobbying on in the former legacy Council for many years, Newry Mourne and Down District Council needs to lead by example in delivering a quality beach visitor experience. The Council need to maintain a stretch of recreational beach, close to the promenade, this would require some levelling, the removal of debris, which will allow families to enjoy the seaside experience. The access to this area requires clearing also, to assist the public to get on to the beach.
“Despite all the wonderful work that has been done to improve Newcastle’s promenade and streetscape, our town’s reputation is being badly tarnished by the failure to improve the standard of its seafront. Sinn Féin has long called for the implementation of a beach strategy.
“Over the past number of years, there has been major improvements to Newcastle’s sewage system, this has had a massive improvement on the water quality in Newcastle. If council are serious about becoming a top holiday destination in Ireland, then all departments need to be bought into the corporate vision.
“I have raised this request with senior directors in Council and I will be tabling it at the next Community Planning Mourne’s DEA Fora meeting.”
