Still no progress on Ladysmith

LOCAL councillors have met with officials from two government departments over the ongoing issue of unadopted land at Ladysmith Terrace in Ballymena.

DRD Minister Danny Kennedy and DSD Minister Nelson McCausland had been due to attend the recent meeting but were unable to due to other commitments, with councillors instead meeting with senior officials from the two government departments.

Councillor Paul Frew - who has been campaigning for improvement to the area for a number of years - was in attendance at the meeting and said it had been made “very clear” that the stretch of road will not be ‘adopted’ until it’s made safe.

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Updating fellow Ballymena councillors at last week’s monthly meeting, Cllr. Frew said the issues still came down to finding the owner of the land before any work could be done.

“We cannot find an owner; we have demonstrated time and again, with ads in the papers, that we have done everything we can to find the owner,” Cllr. Frew said.

Over the past number of years Road Service has been working with the Department of Social Development and the Harryville Partnership, to develop options to upgrade a currently unadopted part of Ladysmith Terrace which borders onto Queen Street, with Ballymena Council first launching an appeal to trace the owners of the land back in February 2011.

Mayor of Ballymena, Ald. PJ McAvoy acknowledged that the issue had been ongoing for 30 years, commenting: “The road was all chopped even then.”

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Cllr. Frew agreed, adding that work was needed “before these is an accident on that road”.

He added that through his party office, he would be organising a community audit of the area and a petition to demonstrate the strength of feeling locally.

If the road were to be adopted, it would see the railway bridge blocked off to traffic, with a footpath to allow pedestrian access.

Councillor James McClean asked for assurances that the local community were aware they no longer be able to drive through Ladysmith Terrace and exit onto Queen Street.

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Cllr. Frew said he hoped people were aware of this situation but added that the key issue was road safety.

“Anyone I’ve talked to are aware the road will be blocked off... the community audit will show that,” Cllr. Frew added.

It was agreed that Cllr. Frew would provide council with any updates.