Newry City Park plans have taken a significant step forward with the appointment of an Integrated Consultancy Team.

Tetra Tech has been appointed by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, and as the Integrated Consultancy Team their role will be to take the project through detailed design, planning approval, contractor appointment and delivery on site through to completion by May 2027.

The 15-Acre development at the Albert Basin site will provide a world class park for the residents of Newry.

The project provides a significant space for the community and aims to improve the health, fitness and wellbeing of residents, whilst increasing the number of visitors to Newry.

The appointment was enabled after the Council’s Outline Business Case (OBC) for the park was approved by the Department for Communities and a Contract for Funding issued in December last year.

This opened access to £16.2 million from the Executive’s Complementary fund through the Department for Communities. The Council is also underwriting £2.4 million to deliver a 15-acre City Park as part of Phase One.

A temporary community space at the Newry City Park site also opened officially in December following an award of £220,000 from the Department for Communities.

The funding allowed an upgrade of part of the Albert Basin site for temporary community use while work progresses on Newry City Park.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Cllr Valerie Harte, said: “The appointment of an Integrated Consultancy Team is a landmark phase of the project that will see detailed survey and design work getting underway at the Albert Basin site.

“I would like to thank everyone involved in the work leading up to and during this procurement process, enabling us to attract the highest calibre of talent to match the ambition we have for Newry City Park. I and many other residents were excited by the recently released concept designs and I look forward to Tetra Tech progressing this vision and undertaking the detailed work required to bring Newry City Park to life.”

Co-chairs of the Newry City Centre Regeneration Programme Board, Councillor Declan Murphy and Councillor Cllr Doire Finn, said in a statement: “We congratulate Tetra Tech on the appointment to a project that is at the heart of our ambitious regeneration plans for Newry City Centre. Thank you to everyone who has contributed towards getting the project to this milestone, including community representatives who sit on the Newry City Park Stakeholder Group for their ongoing engagement.”

Darren Price, Associate Director of Project Management at Tetra Tech, said: “We are delighted to be appointed as the Integrated Consultancy Team. Tetra Tech recognises the potential of the Albert Basin location and looks forward to bringing its expertise and experience on board to the Newry City Park project, which has the potential to reinvigorate the city centre as part of a wider transformation of Newry.”

In September 2023 the Council released new visuals for Phase One of the park development, a Newry City Centre Regeneration project, incorporating changing places facilities, an inclusive play park, a sensory garden, an outdoor event space, water and urban sports areas, a plaza area for artisan markets and pop-up vending locations. These are complemented by green space, woodland areas, walking, cycling and running paths, with the park also upgrading links to Victoria Lock and the Greenway.

Main image: At the site of the planned 15-acre Newry City Park are (from left): Michael Graham, Director of Planning, Tetra Tech; Co-chair of the Newry City Centre Regeneration Programme Board, Cllr Declan Murphy; Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Cllr Valerie Harte; Darren Price, Associate Director of Project Management, Tetra Tech; Marie Ward, Chief Executive, NMDDC; Gerard Murray, Director, Regional Development, Department for Communities, and Paul Tamati, Assistant Director of Leisure and Sport. Tetra Tech has been appointed by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council as the Integrated Consultancy Team. Their role will be to take the project through detailed design, planning approval, contractor appointment and delivery on site.

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