Town centre task forces meeting in coming weeks

Portadown councillor Julie Flaherty enquired about the future of these task forces at September’s monthly meeting of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.

“I attended the revitalisation and recovery stakeholder forum and I was a bit disappointed,” said Cllr Flaherty.

“The only silver lining was the attendance of the Department for Communities at this meeting but where are the local town centre tasks forces?

“Our town centres need the support, it would be a very useful forum to get members together in our own District Electoral Areas [DEA] to represent our urban and town areas and I really do want to hear where we are with that.”

Council’s strategic director of place, Olga Murtagh, informed Cllr Flaherty that dates had been arranged for the meeting of these task forces and members would be informed following the meeting.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Flaherty confirmed the meeting of the task force for her own DEA, Portadown, would take place in the first week of November.

“The town centre task force meeting for Portadown and Craigavon will be held on November 3,” said Cllr Flaherty.

“The meetings will go on to November 17.

“It is getting to the stage where we are having meetings about having meetings and it is starting to irritate me, there seems to be a real lack of action and I would love to know why.

“There was a High Streets Task Force announced by Stormont in early August and I am still not sure now, in October, how that is going to work.”

Cllr Flaherty said she fears the whole thing has become something of “a box ticking exercise”.

“Is it the revitalisation forum that is going to feed into this or our own DEA task forces,” Cllr Flaherty wondered.

“Every councillor from every DEA knows what need to done, it is just getting it done at the minute seems to be more difficult than it should be.”

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