The Minister for social development has announced a £155 million regeneration of Coleraine town centre during a visit to the area.

The money will primarily finance two schemes, the Abbey Street car park and Mall car parks located in the centre of Coleraine. The new developments will include new shops and restaurants, apartments, offices and over 1,400 car parking spaces.

Coleraine Mayor, Cllr Maurice Bradley said: “Today is a ‘good news day’ for Coleraine. The development schemes that are being proposed have the potential to make a huge impact on our town and on our Borough.

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We are all aware that there is a burning need for additional parking in Coleraine however the proposed developments, including parking, shops and restaurants, could give a very welcome boost to our overall offering.”

The Abbey Street and Mall car park schemes are being aliased “The Lanes” and “The Ramparts” respectively, and it has taken over two years of planning to deliver these schemes.

It is hoped the scheme will deliver a stronger retail draw for the area thereby pulling in further investment, jobs and snowballing commercial viability.

Minister: “It is very exciting to be able to announce these proposals for Coleraine town centre today. The car parks at Abbey Street and the Mall provide much needed parking facilities for the town, but they could also be used to create jobs and facilities that the people of Coleraine need.”

(DW/SP)