Banbridge District Council is giving communities in rural parts of the district the opportunity to have a say on how they would like to see their area developed over the next few years.

The council will hold consultations with the communities of Gilford, Scarva, Loughbrickland, Lawrencetown, Lenaderg, Tullylish, Corbet, Katesbridge, Moneyslane, Kinallen, Annaclone, Finnis, Waringsford, Leitrim and Ashfield/Gowdystown.

The aim of these consultations is to identify issues facing the community in each area as well as assess their future needs. The resulting plans that follow will be used to secure funding to support a range of regeneration projects in each area.

Responsible for managing the project, Council Community Development Officer Robert Stockley said: “It is important that communities in these areas attend these consultation sessions and highlight what steps they feel could be taken to improve their area because the final plans will influence decisions that affect their village environment not just now but for years to come.”

Initial consultation sessions to identify issues in each area will take place in the next two weeks as follows:

Area	Date	Drop-in Times	Venue
Annaclone	Thu 3 May	5.30pm-7.30pm	St Colman’s P.S.
Ashfield/Gowdystown	Fri 4 May	7pm-8pm	Quilly Orange Hall
Corbet	Fri 4 May	5.30pm-6.30pm	Anglers Rest
Finnis*	Thu 3 May	5.30pm-7.30pm	Venue TBC
Gilford	Tue 24 April	5.30pm-7.30pm	Gilford Community Centre
Kin allen, Finnis & Waringsford	Wed 2 May	5.30pm-7.30pm	Fair Hill P.S.
Lawrencetown, Lenaderg & Tullylish	Thu 26 April	5.30pm-7.30pm	Laurencetown Community Centre
Lenaderg*	Fri 27 April	5.30pm-7.30pm	Bannville House Hotel
Leitrim	Mon 30 April	5.30pm-7.30pm	Leitrim GAA Club
Loughbrickland	Fri 27 April	5.30pm-7.30pm	Newbridge Integrated College
Katesbridge*	Wed 2 May	5.30pm-7.30pm	Shanaghan Orange Hall
Moneyslane & Katesbridge	Tue 1 May	5.30pm-7.30pm	Drumadonnell P.S.
Scarva	Wed 25 April	5.30pm-7.30pm	Scarva Visitor Centre
Tullylish*	Fri 27 April	5.30pm-7.30pm	All Saints Church Hall
Waringsford*	Thu 3 May	5.30pm-7.30pm	Waringsford Orange Hall
* These sessions are for those who are unable to attend the joint sessions but will be unmanned.

These will then be followed by further consultation sessions on the draft and final village plans for each area.

It is costing over £95,000 to prepare the full set of plans but 80% of this was provided by the NI Housing Executive and Down Rural Area Partnership through the NI Rural Development Programme 2007-2013.

Contact:
Leisure and Development Department
Banbridge District Council
T: 028 4066 0605