Background to the Saintfield Community Centre Project (August 2018)

This project started on Monday 25th June, 2007 when the late Gerry Lowe as Chair of Saintfield Town Regeneration Committee (since renamed as the Saintfield Development Association led a presentation to Down District Council to request a feasibility study for a community centre for Saintfield. Present that evening in the council chamber were some people who have been supportive of the project for all of the 11-year intervening period. Former Councillor William Dick proposed that legacy Down District Council should commission such a study and this was seconded by Councillor Billy Walker. The proposal was agreed with no objections.

Also present that evening, representing the community with Gerry Lowe were Lindsay Ross of Saintfield United Football Club, Lawrence Murphy representing Saintfield Hockey Club and the then Saintfield Town Regeneration Committee and Susan Walsh representing Saintfield Community Estates Partnership. Martyn Todd, current Chair of the Saintfield Development Association, was then the Director of Recreation and Community Services in the Council and was also present.

During the remaining tenure of Down District Council, the project progressed steadily, if slowly at times. A suitable site was difficult to find and three possibilities were rejected before Michael Lipsett (Director of Recreation) who succeeded Martyn Todd on his retirement organised the purchase of the Belfast Road site on behalf of Down District Council. The site is ideally located, being near the centre of the village and opposite Saintfield High School. The existing buildings on site, three well built and well-maintained warehouses, lend themselves to many possible uses.

Following extensive public consultation (over 950 local people completed questionnaires) the facilities for the centre were agreed and Down District councillors unanimously approved funding of £3.4million to refurbish the premises. However, the merger of Down District Council and Newry and Mourne Council resulted in a moratorium on all previously agreed capital projects and so the Down District Council plans for Saintfield were shelved.

The new Council comprised many new councillors and council officials who were not familiar with Saintfield or its need for a community centre. This resulted in the Saintfield Development Association having to demonstrate the need once again. Further public consultation and additional studies resulted in the production of a business case that was accepted by the new council, though the council had now limited the funding to a maximum of £1.5m. This sum was not sufficient to refurbish all three buildings on the site and it was agreed that the current project would refurbish the largest building and half of a second one. It is planned that the remainder of the buildings will be developed at a later stage as funds become available.

The priority needs and wishes from the public consultations were used to decide what facilities should be provided. The largest building (some 60m by 30m) will be an indoor training space for large ball sports. The artificial grass surface will be ideal for soccer and Gaelic football and is very much welcomed by Saintfield United Football Club and St Mochai’s GAC, both of whom have had to hire pitches outside Saintfield for their extensive youth training programmes. The new facility will provide a safe and dry space for training in all weathers, a boon for young players and their parents.

Half of the second building being refurbished will comprise a large hall, meeting rooms, a studio, a small kitchen and a welcoming entrance area. This space will have large windows looking out over the landscaped surroundings, which will include, in time, a modern play area. The building will be very energy efficient and the goal is to make it carbon neutral. Half of the large roof area faces South and will have photo-voltaic panels. There will also be heat pumps and a rain-water catchment system to reduce running costs.

Saintfield Development Association has been the prime mover for the project for most of the eleven years. However, to widen the involvement from the community, a separate organisation, the Saintfield Community Trust, has been established to oversee the management and running of the new centre. Damian Scarlett, secretary of Saintfield Bowling Club, chairs the working group for the new Trust and has worked closely with Barbara Graham, Brian Gamble, Paul McGeown and Martyn Todd as the project team liaising with Newry Mourne and Down Council since its formation three years ago.

Public consultation revealed that there are over fifty school, church, sport and community groups in and around Saintfield. Some of these are having to use premises outside Saintfield for their meetings as all the available halls in Saintfield are busy most nights of the week. The new centre will provide facilities for these groups to return to Saintfield and also allow new groups to form and use the shared spaces being provided.