Council Offices Start Spin On Downshire Hub

Around August this year Down District Council is set to move from its cramped Strangford Road premises to the historic Downshire Hospital site on the Ardglass Road, Downpatrick. This new multi-million pound relocation scheme for five public sector bodies in Downpatrick is being developed on the 52 acre site creating a ‘one stop’ campus for the citizens of Down.  

The five main agencies expected to be finally committed to this major project are the South Eastern Health Trust, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the PSNI with a new Command Centre., and Down District Council.

Tony Hood, Clerk of Works, Marie Ward, Chief Group Building Control Officer with Council Chairman Cllr Dermot Curran outside the new Council offices at the Downshire Hub 

Councillor Dermot Curran, Council Chairman, visited the site on Monday morning and was impressed with the progress to date and the overall scope and layout of the new Council offices. He said, “I am very excited about the relocation of the Council headquarters to the Downshire site. Improved working conditions and services are exactly what our staff and the residents of Down District need. There has been much thought and effort put into this project and I am confident that it will be a positive move for our community.

“It is great to see the project come to fruition, especially as it has been in the pipeline for so long.  Construction works are progressing well and I can’t wait to see and work in the new and improved Council headquarters, although I will always have fond memories of our Strangford Road premises.”

Work in progress at the Downshire Estate

Councillor Curran added, “I am especially pleased about the potential economic benefits that ‘The Big Move’ will have for the district. The move has already generated big business for a local contracting firm and the Council is also keen to develop the growth of local small business in the area through dedicated business units located on site.”

In any working day the workforce varies on the site from 60-80 workers. Chartered building company O’Hare & McGovern Limited has led the construction project of the new Council offices enlisting local contractors to assist in the work. Work on the site began in October 2010 and will continue right up until mid-summer 2012. 

In the new Council building staff will be accommodated in bright, cheery surrounding, and ‘the Big Move’ is expected to take place over a couple of days as opposed to a longer period of transition from the old office buildings to the new.

The local Councillors will also find the new premises spacious with member’s rooms, a high tech Council chamber with two drop down presentation screen, a press area and a podium for making presentations and a public gallery, and there will be a north-facing window to give a view out over part of Downpatrick. The Council chairman too will have a dedicated office.

Down District Council’s Group Chief Building Control Officer Marie Ward, who is leading the project, said, “Not only are we assured of a beautiful new state-of-the-art building, but we have provided employment opportunities for a wide range of skilled and unskilled operatives who will have been on site for over 2 years from when the work began until it is finally completed. O’Hare & McGovern Limited is a very experienced and reliable company with an impressive portfolio of successfully completed projects.

“In designing the building, we have made every effort to locate the Council departments that deal most with the public on the ground floor and to the front of the building.

Down Council Chairman Cllr Dermot Curran with Victor Brown, O'Hare and McGovern, in the new Council chamber

The new Council offices will be more accessible for residents of the district and will also include an impressive ceremony room for weddings and civil partnerships with a garden area outside, a new council chamber with modern day technology, improved reception area, improved parking facilities and much more.

The new premises will not only be home to the Council offices, there is also a section of the building dedicated to the Beyond NI Business Programme which offers six spaces from which local businesses can operate. Beyond NI was established in 2010 to assist existing businesses of all sizes that operate in the Down district area. It provides business owners and entrepreneurs with advice and expertise to assist them in being successful and allows them to discuss and share ideas online and face to face. The new outlet spaces will allow new businesses to operate from, thus creating further employment opportunities for the local community.

The dedicated business units branded the ‘Beyond Centre’, will be available to let on flexible terms and include four offices of 120 sq ft, with two larger units of 800 sq ft. The office-type units will be ideal for micro businesses who wish to take the next step and move into a new modern corporate environment whilst the larger units will be ideal for retail, food or café establishments given the new high level of demand there will be for these services on the campus.

The move from the existing Down District Council offices on 24 Strangford Road to the new headquarters is expected to take place at the end of the summer season 2012.