An “Empty to Energised” grant scheme is being developed to tackle vacancy and dereliction in Bangor City and Newtownards.
Officials at Ards and North Down Borough Council have outlined updates on a study and pilot planned for urban areas in the borough, starting with Bangor and Newtownards, which have a fifth of their non residential buildings vacant.
The plan is similar to the Belfast City Council “Vacant to Vibrant” programme, which is successfully restoring buildings across the city centre.
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Latest figures show Bangor City Centre has 666 non-domestic premises with 140 (21.0 percent) vacant. Newtownards has 536 premises with 113 (21.1 percent) vacant - this is the highest number there since April 2016.
Comber has 129 premises with 20 (12.6 percent) vacant, Donaghadee has 121 premises with 21 (17.4 percent) vacant, Holywood has 305 with 28 (9.2 percent) vacant.
A report by officers for the council’s Place and Prosperity Committee states: “Officers are in the process of developing a pilot grant scheme aimed at tackling vacancy and dereliction within urban areas of the borough to increase the value of the non-domestic rate base to the council.
“The ‘Empty to Energised’ (working title) grant scheme will provide potential financial assistance to property owners who participate in the scheme to renovate vacant properties and reintroduce commercial use to the premises under stipulated terms and conditions. A secondary benefit of the pilot scheme may be an opportunity to increase living accommodation on the high street.”
It adds: “Based on these percentages and other considered factors, an appointed consultant is undertaking a vacancy and dereliction study in Bangor and Newtownards.
“Each study has the following objectives: firstly the identification and mapping of derelict and vacant commercial properties, and secondly an analysis of patterns of vacancy using historic data.
“Thirdly there will be an exploration into cases of decline and recommendations of strategies for redevelopment (short, medium, and long-term) and there will be interventions to tackle vacancy and dereliction to find ways to increase property values and attract new businesses.
“Each study will be supported with an action plan that details how the implementation of the various interventions can be managed, potential paths for funding, and a clear identification of responsibility suggested.”
The completion date for each study is March 31, and the data will then be interpreted to assist the development of the grant scheme. The required budget for the grant scheme has already been approved.
Detailed proposals for the scheme, and how it could be broadened across the borough, will be drafted in a future report to the committee for approval.
The plans come after a motion forwarded in July 2024 by UUP Councillor Richard Smart which proposed a plan “encouraging the re-use or redevelopment of local derelict buildings to provide new business opportunities or homes.”
The motion stated: “Consideration would also be given to what limitations can be placed on public and private property owners who are not willing to work in partnership for regeneration and the public good.”
Councillor Smart said at the February meeting of the Place and Prosperity Committee: “The most frustrating thing is these are places where people want to start a business, grow a business, where people want to live, but they are not getting that opportunity because so many owners have sat on some of these properties for such a long time. I know we all feel quite passionately that if we have the right carrot and stick we can make something happen.”
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