Development of Carrick town centre on hold until land was sold

The sale of property belonging to St Nicholas’ Church was taking longer to agree than had first been proposed, and so the development of the town centre could not yet go ahead.

The church owned a considerable amount of ground at Lancastrian Street, with the development project relying on some of the land needing to be sold.

There were plans to convert Carrick into a modern shopping town, and with the project stalling, concerns were mounting that people would use other shopping centres and the town centre would be left behind.

The church held a meeting but said that no plans had been made to sell any church property or ground. Further discussion on the issue was due to take place at in December.

Carrick Town Clerk, Raymond Boyd said: “The council is interested in having discussions with the church. If they decide not to sell then we will have to look at the proposals again. Any doubts the church has about the proposals can be discussed with the council.”