Journal

Wave hello

May 2006 Issue

One of Northern Ireland’s three most popular seaside resorts, Newcastle, County Down, is no stranger to wave action. In fact, in 2002, the sea was so fierce that it partly demolished the town’s old Victorian seafront. Down District Council’s response to this misfortune, though, indicates a different sort of wave currently running through Newcastle’s 5,000 strong community. It is this wave of optimism, coupled with the determination to put Newcastle firmly back on the economic and tourist map, that has encouraged the council to bear the full £4 million financial cost of this new project.

The authority commissioned Ferguson McIlveen to produce a scheme to reconnect the town visually, physically and socially with the beach. Associate landscape architect Catherine Adams has been involved with Down District on behalf of the practice since 1992. “Newcastle is coming up for air following 30 years of under-investment,” she says. “Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the town has access to some ecologically rich sites. With the Mountains of Mourne to the south-west and the area likely soon to be granted National Park status, Newcastle is keen to capitalise on its potential as a holiday destination.”

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