Antrim and Newtownabbey Street nameplates cost £33k annually, councillors told
The cost of street nameplate installations in Antrim and Newtownabbey is £33,000 annually, councillors have been told.
Minutes of a discussion that took place behind closed doors at a recent meeting of the borough council’s Operations Committee said this sum comprises £15,000 for the installation of nameplates in new developments and £18,000 for replacements of existing street signs.
Property developers are to be told that although the council would continue to install new street nameplates, the associated costs will be charged to them.
Replacement street nameplates will continue to be funded by the council but replacements will only be carried out where a nameplate is missing, damaged, or has become illegible.
A committee report said as all street nameplates would be installed by the local authority, this will “ensure consistent, high quality installations, including standardised text size, font, height, materials, reflective backing and other design elements”.
It was proposed by Macedon Ulster Unionist Councillor Robert Foster and seconded by Antrim Alliance Cllr Neil Kelly the amendment to the street naming and numbering procedure be approved.
In February, councillors considered recycling street signs in a bid to cut costs over dual language replacements. Previously, the cost of fabrication and installation of each new dual language sign was reported to be £500.
Three new dual language street signs were approved at last month’s meeting of the council’s Policy and Governance Committee for Arthur Road and Arthur Park in Newtownabbey and Gallagh Road, in Toomebridge. A dual language street sign application for Arthur Crescent, Newtownabbey, has reached stage two of the process.
An application for dual language street signs to the council must be supported by a petition representing at least one-third of residents and must have the backing of the local authority before it can proceed to the next stage of canvassing street residents by post to seek their views on the request to erect a street sign in a second specified language.
If a decision is approved by the authority to erect a street sign in a second language, a translation will have to be carried out by an independent body. The second language sign will be placed below the English in lettering the same size.
The Dual Language Street Sign Policy was adopted by the council in May 2022. The same year, councillors agreed to the replacement of signage across the borough which would extend to 29 hamlets at a cost of £18,500.
New ‘Welcome’ signage was installed in 2022 in Ballynure, Ballyrobert, Burnside, Doagh, Dunadry, Parkgate, Straid, Templepatrick, Toome and Whiteabbey. ‘Welcome’ signs on main arterial routes into Antrim, Ballyclare, Crumlin, Glengormley and Randalstown were erected in 2019.
The first three dual language street signs in English and Irish were approved by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council in January of last year to be displayed at Bawnmore Grove, Bawnmore Place and Newton Gardens, in Newtownabbey.
Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter