Neighbourhood Renewal

The Newry Neighbourhood Renewal Area will be a safer place to live, where people respect and have pride in their neighbourhood, where education plays a central role in the development of young people, where residents have access to the best public services, where healthy lifestyles are fostered and promoted and where people develop and take full advantage of economic activity.

The Newry Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership was established in February 2005, as an advisory body to the DSD.  It is an inter-sectoral partnership, tasked with driving the delivery of the Department’s ‘People and Place’ Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy within Newry.  The Partnership comprises members from the statutory, community/voluntary and private sectors.  Each of the nine social housing areas within the Neighbourhood Renewal boundary have active community associations in place and all are represented on the Partnership.

The organisations involved are as follows:

Community

• Carnagat Area CA
• Drumalane/Quayside Close CA
• Threeways CA
• Meadow & Armagh Road CA
• Greater Linenhall CA
• Barcroft CA
• Ballybot CA
• Derrybeg CA
• Martins Lane CA

Statutory

• Department for Communities (DfC)
• Newry Mourne  & Down District Council (NM&DDC)
• Education Authority NI (EANI)
• Southern Area Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT)
• Southern Regional College (SRC)
• Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE)

Buisness

• Newry and Mourne Enterprise Agency (NMEA)

Voluntary Sector

• Confederation of Community Groups (CCG)

What is Neighbourhood Renewal?

Neighbour Renewal is about closing the gap between the quality of life for people in the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of society.  Neighbourhood Renewal has adopted a long-term (10 - 15 year) approach to practical and co-ordinated action at a local level and has four interlinking strategic objectives of:

• Community Renewal – to develop confident communities that are able and committed to improving the quality of life in their areas
• Economic Renewal – to develop economic activity in the most deprived neighbourhoods and connect them to the wider urban economy
• Social Renewal – to improve social conditions for the people who live in the most deprived neighbourhoods through better co-ordinated public services and the creation of safer environments
• Physical Renewal – to help create attractive, safe, sustainable environments in the most deprived neighbourhoods.

This method of delivery requires a joined-up approach by all government departments and agencies to ensure that services are better co-ordinated, funding is used effectively and is spent in an integrated and co-ordinated way. It means that effective partnerships need to be created between those providing public services and local communities who rely on them.

The city of Newry with a population of approximately 35,000, has experienced significant regeneration over recent years.  Unemployment has fallen steeply and there has been more sustainable, independent and wealth-generating business created within the area than any other part of Northern Ireland.  Newry has become a vibrant and busy city attracting people from all parts of the island of Ireland.  This is particularly evident in retail, as Newry is firmly established as a premier shopping location.

Despite this, approximately one third of its residents (11,000) experience deprivation and the challenge under Neighbourhood Renewal is to target the people and the areas with a positive, modern and consultative approach to addressing issues.

• Impact of Neighbourhood Renewal in Newry.

• Impact of Neighbourhood Renewal in Downpatrick.