Safe access to a school in the County Down village of Dromara has been significantly improved through a recent renewal scheme.

A pedestrian footpath was extended from the main road to allow safe access to the area's primary school and the towpath. It also provides a route from the Hillsborough Road to the footpath for visitors to the park. This was completed by Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council as part of the Dromara Village Renewal Scheme.

This project was put forward by the community during consultation after issues were raised about the risk of using the tow path in the area.

Alderman Allan Ewart MBE, Chairman of the Local Action Group and the council's Development Committee, said: "The renewal of Dromara village was community led to improve the quality of life and economic prosperity of the village. This new pathway is a much needed measure to ensure that children safely reach the classroom after being dropped off by their parents, grandparents or childminders. I'm delighted to see the addition of the path creating a safer walking route from the main road for all users of the Park."

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Mr Andrew Armstrong, Principal of Dromara Primary School added: "I would like to thank the Council for listening to our views and helping to ensure that our children can safely get into school. As a school we work to the ethos of 'Happy children; learning and achieving together'; and these new safety measures have extended this ethos to include working together as part of the Dromara community. Thank you very much to the funders, partners and organisations involved."

This project was also supported with funding from the NI Rural Development Programme through Lagan Rural Partnership.

Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council will celebrate the completion of the scheme with an event on Friday 18 October.

(CM/MH)