Ards and North Down Borough Council has announced that site clearance works at Marine Gardens in Bangor are to begin ahead of the redevelopment of Queen's Parade in Summer 2024.

A contractor employed by Bangor Marine (Queen's Parade developer) will commence works on 27 February to remove vegetation from the area prior to birds starting to build their nests. The works which are to start in the area currently used as the Marine Gardens' car park will take approximately seven days. Some minor disruption to small areas of the car park can be expected but it will remain open throughout the works.

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Council park officers checked the site for trees to see if any could be moved elsewhere. Many trees, especially those in tree pits, are too sick to transplant. The trees in the car park flower beds and lawns are healthier but too big to move successfully.

Timber from the site can, however, be used by local groups, including Holywood Men’s Shed (woodturning, habitat building, school group visits) and by some local schools for forest school and environmental projects.

Around 70 new trees will be planted by Bangor Marine including semi-mature trees to provide instant impact, as well as a range of other planting as part of their redevelopment plans for Marine Gardens.

Aran Blackbourne from Bangor Marine said: "Our current programme is for a July 2024 start. There is plenty of hard work needed to achieve this but we remain fully committed to that summer date and are undertaking these clearance works now, in line with the legislation around protecting nesting birds, so there is no impediment to us starting work on site in July. Disruption in the area will be minimal during the removal works and Marine Gardens will remain open as normal as soon as the clearance is complete."