Proposed Windmill Community Park, Saintfield

PROPOSED WINDMILL COMMUNITY PARK, SAINTFIELD

INTRODUCTION

Saintfield Development Association (SDA), with the generous financial help of David Moffett, has purchased the windmill field in Saintfield. The field is adjacent to, and east of, the new community centre and abounds Windmill Grange, Windmill Road and Millpond Business Park. It is currently in agricultural use.

SDA’s ambition is to develop the field as a community park for the benefit of residents of Saintfield and the surrounding area. A key step in realising this ambition is to obtain planning approval for change of use to amenity community use. As the field exceeds one hectare in area, it is classified as a major project by the planners and therefore a twelve-week consultation process is required before a planning application can be submitted.

The information here is published to allow people to submit any comments to SDA before a planning application is made. Because of the current virus pandemic the consultation process must be electronic and no public meeting will be held as part of the consultation. Any comments should be sent to windmillfield@discoversaintfield.co.uk before 31st January 2021.

BACKGROUND

Population

Saintfield is recorded as having a population of just under 4 000 people, however, within a four mile radius there are around 12 000 people who relate to the town.

Current Available Public Spaces and Facilities

The town supports five churches as well as football, hockey, cricket, bowling and running clubs and the nearby GAA club in Darragh Cross. These have well-used pitch facilities.
There are two primary schools and one secondary school, all with very limited outdoor space.
The new Community Centre, run by volunteers, was open for nearly a year before it was closed due to the Covid -19 pandemic. It was a great success and was well supported. There is a car park and some limited grassed areas around the Centre, which comprises an indoor football pitch as well as a hall and studio space.
The National Trust property at Rowallane Garden provides facilities at the edge of the town.
There are no free public access pedestrian spaces in the town, only pavements and a facility to walk around the perimeter of the cricket and hockey pitches.

Government Policy and Need for Well-being Opportunities

– The Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland (SPPS), September 2015, Paragraphs 4.3-4.10, Improving `health and Wellbeing and Paragraphs 4.13-4.15, Creating and Enhancing Shared Space.
– Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Draft Corporate Plan, 2019-2023, Strategic Objective No 2, Contribute to improving the health and wellbeing of everyone in the district.
Newry, Mourne and Down Local Development Plan 2030, Key Issue 10, Open Space Provision, Paragraph 6.70.
– Living Well Together, A Community Plan for Newry, Mourne and Down to 2030, aligning with three of the four thematic groups listed on Page 26, namely Environmental and Spatial Development, Health and Wellbeing and Safety & Good Relations.

Current central and local government policies and plans recognise the crucial need to address physical and mental health and well-being. The provision of this proposed community park aligns with all of these, as demonstrated above.

The Village Plan for Saintfield produced in 2012 and revised in 2018 identifies a strong need for a public space to give free pedestrian exercise and recreation opportunities. The Windmill Field site was identified as being eminently suitable for this purpose.

The Windmill Field Site encompasses a section of the old railway line from Comber to Downpatrick which, we understand, is currently the subject of a feasibility study to assess the potential for a Green Way.

Public Consultation

Extensive public consultation has been carried out by SDA since 2010 in connection with the development of village plans for Saintfield and the facilities for the new community centre. Overall, there have been nearly 1200 written responses to the various consultation supporting the idea of a community park at the windmill field and a small number of negative views, all from some of the immediate neighbours to the field.

As part of the production of the Village plan, public consultations indicated a strong need and local support for the provision of a local park. Support from Council and other relevant public bodies is confirmed by the Village Plan. All five Rowallane councillors support the need for a community park in Saintfield.

On this basis, the Saintfield Development Association seized the opportunity to acquire the field when it arose. Since the acquisition, Covid-19 restrictions have prohibited public meetings but consultations were carried out as widely as possible utilising social media. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Neighbours with boundaries to the site were contacted personally and invited to consult with SDA representatives on an individual basis on site. No group meetings were arranged as each neighbour had individual concerns and numbers were restricted by Covid regulations.
Some neighbours were agreeable to meeting SDA and our proposals take into account these discussions.

Choice of Setting and Location

In the Planning framework for Saintfield, the Windmill Field site is designated as “LLLP”
It is therefore one of the very few open spaces within the town boundary.
The access to the field from Windmill Road is only suitable for limited use. However, the situation of the field immediately behind the new Community Centre provides an ideal access point from the rear of the centre, as well as allowing use of the parking spaces at the centre.
Schools, the town’s main street, sporting facilities and many housing areas are within easy walking distance of the Windmill Field. In November 2020 Newry, Mourne and Down Council granted SDA an easement for access to the proposed park from the community centre.

SITE DESCRIPTION

Background and History of the Site

The Windmill Field contains the remains of a four storey, 18th century windmill stump, with ancillary stone buildings and part of the track bed of the Belfast & County Down Railway (BCDR) including two cut stone bridges. Along the southern boundary is a small river that provided the water power for the original historic mill complex on this site in the 17th Century.

Factors Supporting the Suitability of the Site

The field contains a wide variety of features in its limited space. The windmill stump and ancillary structures comprise a scheduled monument and therefore are of regional importance. This is an opportunity for them to be stabilised and preserved.
The old railway line which forms one boundary is another point of interest.
The town river forms yet another boundary and has a history of being used for the production of power.

These features combine to allow us to tell the story of Saintfield as a place where agricultural products were processed and the various means of power production both past and present (as per the air source heat pumps and photo-voltaic panels in the community centre)

There are only six private dwellings on the site boundaries. These are elevated above the level of the site so that the privacy of their back gardens is easily protected.

Environmental Impact

It is intended that the park will preserve and improve the environment in several ways: –
– The site encompasses a variety of different types of terrain.
– Elevated views over the town and surrounds.
– Boggy areas which can be ponded and managed to create miniature environments for flora and fauna.
– Slopes and small steep banks suitable for the planting of indigenous trees.
– Riverside access and boundaries which can be used as wild life corridors. Water quality can also be monitored.

Drainage, Water Courses and Water Quality

Existing storm drainage from surrounding developments is currently piped into the river through the field. This can be diverted so that the pond can be used to regulate this flow into the river at a point just upstream from the sewage plant. This plant, we understand, is under serious pressure and this can only be a help.
A feasibility study was commissioned by consultants early in 2020, which included a water quality assessment.
The feasibility report concluded that, from the surveys carried out, there were no impediments to the proposed community park on this site.

Access Issues

The main pedestrian access proposed is through the rear of the Community Centre grounds. This site is the property of Newry Mourne and Down Council, who have granted a way leave access easement to the proposed park
Access to the park will be controlled through the Community Centre grounds and will be closed by locked gates when the Community Centre is closed. The access to the park will be open only during daylight hours. The gates will be open and locked closed by the staff or volunteer on duty at the community centre.
The access from Windmill Road will be for maintenance vehicles only and will be kept gated and locked to prevent public access.

Noise Assessment

There are practical difficulties in estimating noise behaviour in the Park at the moment. Following concerns raised by neighbours during the feasibility study consultation early in 2020, the park will not be used for large gatherings or events which are noise generating. Admittance to the park will take potential neighbour disturbance into consideration at all times.
The Community Centre itself is designed to accommodate any indoor or outdoor group events with a canopy, flood lighting, toilet facilities and power supply. There will be no need for the park to be utilised for anything of that nature. Also there will not be a children’s playground in the proposed park.

PROPOSALS

These should be read in conjunction with the drawing attached below which shows the proposed layout of paths, fencing and access to the park.

Traffic and Parking Issues

It is proposed that parking for the Windmill Park will utilise the Community Centre car park. A survey of the car park usage is impossible at the moment as the Community Centre is closed. We know, however, from our experience that in normal usage the car park is busiest in the evenings and even at peak times, there are still plenty of parking spaces available. We note that a similar park in Carryduff has 12 parking spaces which appear to meet the need.
The Community Centre car park may be required in future to accommodate any users of the currently unoccupied and undeveloped building at the centre. We anticipate that this use would be mainly during business hours and do not foresee this to be a future problem. Traffic management at the access is working well off the Main Road.

Flora and Fauna

The field is currently being used by a local farmer for rough grazing. The railway line is overgrown with various mature trees and bushes as are the field corners at the river.
It is our intention to reinforce and expand these areas with indigenous tree planting.
Marshy and waterside areas will be planted with the appropriate damp loving species which will also form a natural safety barrier.
Existing wild life corridors will be protected and augmented with animal access points set into the fencing.
The feasibility study found no evidence of roosting bats, badger sets or other protected fauna. It is hoped to encourage species such as swifts etc. by the provision of nest boxes and other suitable habitats. It is hoped that local people and schools will become involved in such projects.

Restoration of Windmill and Protected Surroundings

The Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities has identified an area within which their approval is needed for any work. This area is a scheduled monument and contains the windmill stump and two derelict stone buildings.
SDA has held discussions with the HED and has received scheduled monument consent to remove ivy and scrub from the protected ruins.
We intend to raise funds to carry out work to protect and stabilise the buildings, in consultation with the department. We hope this will create further interest in the park.
In the interim we will erect a post and wire fence to separate the ruins from public access.
The 2020 feasibility study included a structural survey of these ruins. We contend that our proposal offers the only possibility of protecting this significant piece of industrial history which would otherwise be left to deteriorate and collapse over time.

Railway Trackbed

Saintfield Development Association are very supportive of any feasible project to open up Greenways on the old Comber to Downpatrick railway line. The section of this that bounds our site would mean that the park could become a feature of any such Greenway. We envisage potential here for an access point to the town, enhancing the use of both the town and the Greenway.
The need for cycle and exercise tracks is well documented. We envisage that any such Greenway could be diverted from the actual track route, through the park, thus preserving the existing wild life corridor function.

Impact on Neighbouring Properties

As stated earlier, the aim is to minimise any disturbance to all the neighbours. We also believe that the granting of approval for use of the field as a park will protect the field from being used in a less appropriate way in future.
It is our intention to improve the separation of neighbouring houses from the park. We have agreed to erect a 1.8m high palisade boundary fence as indicated on our plan. This will leave space for access for neighbours to maintain their own fences. Some agreed low level planting is also proposed to enhance the boundary. Planting clusters within the park will be designed to break and obstruct any views of the properties from the park. The natural topography of the site will be used to keep paths below vision lines to houses and gardens.

Security and Management Issues and Sustainability

As detailed above, public access to the park will be controlled through the Community Centre grounds. The park can be closed separately when required e.g. when it is dark. CCTV cameras can be installed and positioned so as not to overlook the neighbours. Control of the CCTV recorded footage would be with SDA. In practice this would only be accessed following an incident or accident in the park, serious incidents being reviewed by the PSNI.
Fencing will be designed to severely restrict any unauthorised access as will the planting on the railway track. Access from the river boundary is protected by this as well as the industrial site beyond.
Should any misuse of the park become an issue, it will be closed and remedial measures taken to prevent any future abuse.
Maintenance and management of the park will be undertaken by volunteers from the community and it is hoped that this will give a sense of ownership and respect, motivating an ongoing commitment to responsible use and development of the facility.
In the long term, SDA intend to apply for further funding to create a heritage trail which will include explanatory information about past uses of the site for power generation.

Click on the map to see an enlarged version.