Under-investment in Newtown ‘disheartening’

LOCAL councillors have said that action must be taken to tackle underinvestment in Newtownstewart town centre.

It follows an update report on Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Newtownstewart Town Centre Regeneration Framework, which was presented to members at an Environment and Regeneration Committee meeting on Wednesday.

At the meeting, Sinn Féin councillor Caroline Devine welcomed the report, but warned that residents were, “frustrated and disheartened by a lack of interest in their town and the historical underinvestment in the infrastructure there.”

Cllr Devine added, “All of those things have been reflected in the report… in terms of poor parking facilities, inadequate pedestrian access, lack of signage, and even simple things like no street furniture or flowers in the town.

“At the last council meeting reference was made to an award Derry won for floral displays, and the comment around that was that they bring colour and vibrancy to the council area and make it a beautiful and attractive place to live and work for locals.

“That’s what we want for our rural towns and villages as well, and the council need to lead by example and start delivering on these short-term elements of the plan without delay.

“Newtownstewart is a town rich in both natural and built heritage and has huge untapped potential tourism, but the infrastructure needs to be done in advance to help to realise that.

“If tourist coaches were attracted to come into Newtonstewart now they would have nowhere to park, and that’s a major issue.

“This document is a fantastic starting point, but we now need to see a strong focus on delivering the framework for the people in Newtownstewart.

Director of Environment and Regeneration, Karen Phillips, said officers hoped to deliver actions highlighted in the framework “as quickly as possible”, although the report had identified funding constraints.