Issue 247 - East Down BT24 • BT30 • BT31 • BT33
£525,000 road improvement
Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd has announced that a £525,000 carriageway resurfacing scheme and drainage improvements on the A2 Shore Road, Strangford (commenced in early Jan). The resurfacing scheme involves the asphalt resurfacing of a 1.3 kilometre stretch of the Shore Road between Strangford Village and Kilclief. The scheme will start from the end of a 2023 resurfacing scheme, 1 kilometre south of Strangford village and extend for 1.3 kilometres in the Kilclief/Ardglass direction. To facilitate the safe delivery of the scheme it is necessary to implement a Monday to Friday road closure from 8:00am – 17:00pm. The road closure is in place to Friday 14 March 2025 (road open evenings and weekends). An alternative route will be signed with traffic being diverted via the following route: A0025 Castleward Road, A0025 Downpatrick Road, A0002 Shore Road, C0283 Churchtown Road, C0366 Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Peter Byrne, attended the ‘Know Your Numbers’ gardening workshops event at the Saintfield Men’s Shed project.
Saintfield’s Men’s Shed Host ‘Know Your Numbers’ Gardening Event
Men’s Sheds from Rowallane, Mournes, Slieve Croob, Downpatrick and Crotlieve joined Saintfield Men’s Shed to take part in four workshops designed to refresh The Know Your Numbers workshops hosted by Saintfield Men’s Shed helped ‘shedders’ refresh their mathematical skills when making their own bird feeders, creating origami features and planting bulbs and tessellations, by using geometry concepts such as symmetry, transformation and spatial reasoning to help make their gardening projects more visually appealing. Men’s Sheds are
community spaces where men can come together to enjoy practical hobbies and share skills to support projects in their local communities. They encourage friendshipbuilding, improve wellbeing, reduce loneliness and combat social isolation through connection, conversation and creation. The ‘Know Your Numbers’ workshops gave participants an opportunity to meet new people and
establish new connections. Keen to support this initiative Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Peter Byrne, attended the event and said, “Throughout Newry, Mourne and Down, Men’s Sheds are catalysts for creativity, where local people can make a genuine difference to their communities by sharing their knowledge and skills to produce tangible positive results. ‘Shedders’ get
great enjoyment working together, while this hugely popular initiative tackles the very prevalent issues of isolation and exclusion.” The ‘Know Your Numbers’ gardening workshops were funded through the Shared Prosperity Fund and is part of the Department for the Economy’s Multiply fund. Multiply is a free adult numeracy programme aimed at improving adult numeracy skills and confidence with numbers.
Lismore Road, C0283 Crew Road, A0002 Ardglass Road. The Department has programmed the work operations and traffic management arrangements to minimise inconvenience however, while steps have been taken to accommodate local access and Translink bus and school services throughout the scheme, road users should expect some delays and are advised to allow additional time when travelling in the vicinity of the works and are asked to comply with all temporary traffic restrictions. Subject to favourable weather conditions, the works will be substantially complete by 14 March 2025, however the Department will keep the public informed of any change. For more information about this and other improvement schemes visit: Trafficwatchni.com