Exciting plans revealed to breathe new life into Portrush

A MULTI-MILLION pound improvement scheme for the West Bay in Portrush is set to breathe new life in to the seaside resort.

Councillors were impressed with the presentation by The Paul Hogarth Company for the environmental improvement scheme, which is set to encompass the area from the West Bay Car Park through to Kerr Street Green.

Company Director, Andrew Hayley, told council he was pleased with the public consultation on the development but pointed out that the changes were not just going to be cosmetic.

"This is not just about paving the streets, this is about breathing life and economical vitality into the town centre again," he said.

"I don't live here and I don't have a business here so it's very important that we listen to those who do. We asked the questions 'What does Portrush mean?' and 'What does it need to do?'. We spoke to a lot of people and got some good feedback."

Mr Hayley revealed several exciting areas of development in the scheme including the 'reclaiming' of Station Square and the possibility of creating a cantilevered viewing platform to look out over the bay from the square.

"This is a diverse area for development with lots of different challenges and needs," said Mr Hayley.

"At the core of it though is good urban design using high quality materials. We also want to capture the special character of Portrush and include some quirkiness and colour into it.

"Overall though the spaces need to work both in the summer and in the off peak season.

"It's also important that cars and pedestrians share the space so that there's more pedestrian connectivity. We understand that the space has to work for cars, but businesses need the footfall.

"That's why we want to reclaim the Station Square area and take it back to how it first was with plenty of space linking the area right down to the beach.

"Also one of the big things to come out of the consultation was that there is no view of the bay from the square so we are looking at some sort of raised platform that people can walk out on to view the bay.

"We'd also like Portrush to lead way to make the beach accessible to everyone so we are looking at the possibility of putting boardwalks in the sand for wheelchairs users.

"Ultimately this is about creating an environment in which the private sector can flourish. It has to be about social, physical and economic regeneration for the area, if it doesn't do that then we've failed."

The proposal received full cross party support. Work has already started on the karting track at Station Square which is set to be the first phase of the project.