Bangor by the Sea, Bangor, Bangor (2026)

12/08/2026

MARINE GARDENS: REOPENING THE CONVERSATION

We want to revisit the revised plans for Marine Gardens, but before doing so there is something important we would like to say about how the discussion moves forward.

There has been a considerable and well-organised campaign opposing aspects of the revised proposal, including a dedicated page and website, an online petition and leaflets encouraging residents to formally object to the planning application. Those involved are perfectly entitled to make their case and to use the planning process to have their concerns considered.

BangorByTheSea has followed this project closely from its earliest stages and, while we do not believe that every element of the scheme is necessarily perfect, our approach has generally been a pragmatic one which considers the development as a whole. We are also conscious of Bangor's long history of stalled regeneration proposals, alongside a difficult economic climate in which major capital projects are becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to fund.

That does not mean everyone has to agree with our view.

Recently, however, the strength of feeling surrounding this issue resulted in BangorByTheSea taking the unusual decision to remove some posts after both page administrators and contributors expressing support for the revised proposals were subjected to personal and, at times, deeply unpleasant comments.

Having reflected on that, we would rather reopen the conversation than close it down.

There are legitimate arguments on both sides and they deserve to be heard. People should feel equally comfortable saying that they support the proposal, oppose it, or have concerns about particular elements of it without fearing personal criticism for doing so.

Disagreement is healthy. Challenging claims, questioning information and correcting inaccuracies are all part of a worthwhile public discussion. Personal attacks are not.

So, from this point, we would simply ask everyone, ourselves included, to keep the discussion respectful and concentrate on the proposal rather than the person making the argument. We may disagree strongly, but ultimately most people involved want the same thing: the best possible outcome for Bangor.

With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to revisit one part of the revised proposal which may not yet be entirely clear: the location and scale of the proposed new playpark and adjoining green space.

The revised design includes approximately half an acre of additional green space, principally grassed with some tree planting. The images below are intended to help give a clearer indication of how the proposed playpark would sit within the wider Marine Gardens site.

In the aerial image, the yellow outline shows approximately where the new playpark would be located, set back from the residential buildings. The accompanying plan shows the proposed layout and the relationship between the play areas, paths, landscaping and surrounding public realm.

These images are illustrative and have been prepared to help people understand the proposal rather than replace the official drawings. We have tried to make them as fair and accurate as possible, but anyone considering the application, whether in support or objection, should consult the official plans and documents on the Northern Ireland Planning Portal before reaching a conclusion.

We will continue to examine the different elements of the proposal and, importantly, provide space for different views.

Whatever your position, make the argument strongly if you wish. Just make it about the plans, not about each other.

11/08/2026

EXCLUSIVE: ARTEMIS EF-24 MOVES CLOSER TO LAUNCH AHEAD OF BELFAST–BANGOR PILOT SERVICE

Artemis Technologies has today released a fresh update on the progress of its pioneering EF-24 Passenger ferry, confirming that the first-of-class vessel is continuing to advance through fit-out and testing ahead of commissioning and sea trials.

Set to become the world’s first high-speed electric hydrofoil ferry of its size and scale, the 150-passenger ferry EF-24 represents a significant step forward for the maritime industry.
With capacity around five times greater than electric foiling vessels operating today, the EF-24 is designed to demonstrate how electric hydrofoil technology can be deployed at a scale suitable for high-capacity public transport and commercial ferry operations.

According to today’s update, the EF-24 ferry continues to progress through the fit-out phase, with key onboard systems being installed and integrated throughout the vessel. This month, work will focus on ongoing structural testing alongside the installation of the foils. These milestones represent important steps toward completing vessel integration and preparing the ferry for commissioning, dockside testing and sea trials.

The hydrofoil system is central to the vessel’s design, allowing the ferry to rise above the water as it gains speed, dramatically reducing drag and enabling fast and efficient electric operation.

With commissioning and sea trials ahead, the latest progress brings the Artemis EF-24 Passenger Ferry another step closer to demonstrating how electric hydrofoil technology can deliver cleaner, faster and more efficient maritime transport.

Developed as part of the Belfast Maritime Consortium, the first EF-24 will initially operate a temporary pilot passenger service between Belfast and Bangor, placing Belfast Lough at the centre of one of the most significant developments in electric maritime transport.

For Bangor, the prospect of one of the world’s most advanced electric ferries operating across Belfast Lough is moving ever closer, with the pilot service set to showcase the potential of cleaner, faster and more efficient maritime transport between the two cities. BangorByTheSea will continue to follow the EF-24’s progress closely and bring further updates as soon as they become available.

Photo Credit:- Artemis Technologies, Belfast

10/08/2026

A BELFAST-BUILT TIME MACHINE LANDS IN BANGOR
The Harbour car park provided an unexpected flash of motoring history this evening when one of Northern Ireland’s most famous exports appeared beside the seafront: a DeLorean DMC-12, looking remarkably at home against the rocks and familiar Bangor skyline.

For anyone of a certain generation, the brushed stainless-steel body and gull-wing doors are instantly recognisable. Long before the DeLorean became Doc Brown’s unlikely time machine in Back to the Future, however, it had a rather more local claim to fame. Every production DeLorean was built just up the road at Dunmurry, on the outskirts of Belfast.

Production began in 1981 at the purpose-built DeLorean Motor Cars factory, with the company receiving substantial backing from the UK Government in an effort to create employment during a particularly difficult period in Northern Ireland. The dream was short-lived, with production ending in 1982 and the company collapsing, although a small number of cars were completed and sold afterwards.

What emerged from Dunmurry was unlike almost anything else on the road. The DMC-12 was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and finished in unpainted stainless-steel body panels and fitted with those unusual upward-opening gull-wing doors. They were powered by a 2.85-litre Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 engine, mounted behind the passenger compartment, driving the rear wheels.

Around 9,000 DeLoreans were produced, making surviving examples increasingly cherished pieces of automotive history. Its performance was never quite as futuristic as its appearance suggested, but Hollywood changed everything in 1985 when the DMC-12 was chosen as the basis for cinema’s most famous time machine.

And, of course, there is one figure every DeLorean enthusiast knows: 88mph.

Thankfully, the example spotted at Bangor Harbour appeared to be keeping comfortably below that particular threshold. Otherwise its owner might have left the car park heading for Bangor 1985, when the marina was just a dream, the Flagship Centre was still in the future, and nobody needed to ask Doc Brown what year the waterfront redevelopment might finally be finished.

09/08/2026

☔ RAIN CAN DAMPEN THE GRASS, BUT NOT BANGOR’S SPIRIT

Who needs the sun to make Bangor shine? Today’s gig at Ward park was a joy to behold!

09/08/2026

𝐓𝐇𝐄 £𝟕 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐑’𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄?
When the blueprints for Bangor’s ambitious Waterfront Regeneration Programme were first unveiled, the numbers promised a revolution. A massive £73 million funding pot, powered by a £40 million injection from the Belfast Region City Deal, £20 million from Ards and North Down Borough Council, and a wave of private backing, was set to bankroll a once-in-a-generation transformation of the city’s coastline.

But in the construction game, cash has an expiry date. As time ticks away, inflation is quietly eating into Bangor’s grand vision. Even a conservative 10% rise in building costs since the project's inception inflicts a devastating blow, stripping away more than £7 million in raw purchasing power. The money hasn't vanished, but its muscle has.
Without an additional infusion of capital, the grand design will inevitably have to shrink. This hidden financial erosion is exactly why the ticking clock must now take centre stage in the public debate.

The original vision emerged in 2019 following extensive work involving the Council and Wayne Hemingway of Hemingway Design. It presented an ambitious, connected waterfront stretching along Bangor’s coastline, with a revitalised marina, dramatically improved public realm, a reimagined Pickie Fun Park and major investment in watersports facilities at Ballyholme. It wasn't simply about individual attractions. The intention was to create a coherent waterfront destination capable of changing how Bangor looked, functioned and presented itself to visitors.

Then, in January 2023, the Council signed the £40 million Belfast Region City Deal Contract for Funding. At that point the project had moved beyond aspiration: substantial public money had been secured, and the expectation naturally shifted from imagining the waterfront to delivering it.

More than three and a half years later, the pace of that delivery deserves much closer scrutiny.

Perhaps the most striking example is the Urban Waterfront and Public Realm component of the project, because this is the element that should ultimately tie everything together. It is about the promenades, landscaping, lighting, public spaces and connections that determine whether Bangor possesses a genuinely attractive waterfront or merely a collection of individual facilities beside the sea.

Yet the Council’s own position in June 2026 showed this major component still progressing through the appointment of its Integrated Consultancy Team, with surveys, site investigations, design development and the planning strategy still to follow.

That is an unexpectedly preliminary position for a vision first placed before the public seven years ago.

The position of Bangor Marina is similarly intriguing. The marina should surely be one of the jewels of any serious Bangor regeneration strategy, occupying an exceptional location beside the city centre and offering enormous potential for tourism, leisure and the marine economy. Yet the Marina Wetside Facilities and Infrastructure project remains one of the least clearly understood elements of the programme.

As recently as June, it too was still progressing through consultancy procurement, with detailed design work to follow. Despite the marina's importance to the original waterfront concept, the public has been given relatively little indication of what the eventual transformation will look like, how ambitious it will be, or when there will be visible work on the ground.

That lack of clarity becomes more significant as the years pass because the original programme has already evolved. Courthouse Phase II is no longer proceeding in its original form. At the same time, Bregenz House, once an identifiable part of the wider waterfront proposition, has become far less prominent in recent programme updates. Plans inevitably change, particularly over a decade-long investment programme, but changes should be explained clearly rather than allowed to drift quietly out of public view.

The greater concern, however, is what prolonged delay does to the remaining ambition.

If inflation in construction, professional fees and infrastructure continues to erode the spending power of those budgets, every additional delay potentially forces harder decisions later. Something must eventually absorb the difference, whether that means finding more money, reducing specifications, scaling back projects or postponing parts of the programme.

This is therefore no longer simply an argument about impatience.
It is an argument about value for money.

There is a perfectly reasonable defence available to the Council. Major public-sector infrastructure schemes are complicated. Business cases must be approved, consultants procured, environmental and engineering work undertaken, planning permissions obtained and contractors appointed. Nobody seriously expects a £70 million-plus regeneration programme to materialise overnight.
But complexity does not make time irrelevant. Nor should the existence of a procurement process automatically be accepted as evidence that a project is moving quickly enough.

Indeed, the Council’s own website continues to say that “work continues apace” on Bangor Waterfront. After seven years of discussion and three and a half years since the City Deal funding contract was signed, residents are entitled to ask what “apace” should reasonably look like.

By now, the public should have access to a clear delivery schedule setting out what will be built, what has changed since 2019, what each element is expected to cost, and when planning applications, contractor appointments and construction are due to proceed.

That is particularly important for the public realm and marina, where the eventual shape of the investment remains frustratingly indistinct.

Because the real question is no longer how much money was secured for Bangor Waterfront, but how much of the original vision that money can still deliver.

08/08/2026

🎸 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞! 🎶

Tomorrow afternoon sees another Picnic in the Park take over the Ward Park Bandstand, this time with the Lee Hedley Blues Band bringing a big dose of blues to Bangor. 🌳🎸

Following a run of sold-out shows at The Courthouse earlier this year, local man Lee Hedley returns to a Bangor stage with more than 30 years’ experience as a blues vocalist and harmonica player.

🗓️ Sunday 9th August
⏰ 3.00pm
📍 Ward Park Bandstand, Bangor
🎟️ FREE EVENT – ALL AGES WELCOME

Bring a picnic, camping chairs and settle in on the grass for another great Sunday afternoon of live music in one of Bangor’s best-loved settings.

There’s also an accessible area for anyone with additional requirements, and the event is train friendly for anyone travelling into the city.

🎶 Good music. Good company. A picnic in the park. What Sundays were made for.

See you at the Bandstand! 🌳☀️🎸

06/08/2026

⛵𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧!
The wait is almost over as a Guinness World Record attempt to complete the fastest-ever sailing crossing of the North Channel is set to begin from Ballyholme Yacht Club tomorrow, Friday 7 August.

The challenge will be undertaken aboard a Nacra 20 foiling catamaran, a lightweight, high-performance racing vessel capable of lifting above the surface on hydrofoils. By reducing contact with the water and dramatically cutting drag, the catamaran can reach remarkable speeds in the right conditions.

With the latest forecast looking promising, the anticipated start time is between 10.45am and 11am. South-westerly winds of around 12 to 13 knots are expected, providing favourable conditions for the record attempt.

Members of the public are being encouraged to come along to Ballyholme Yacht Club and enjoy the atmosphere as the crew launches from Bangor’s shoreline. It promises to be a rare opportunity to witness a potential piece of international sailing history unfolding locally.

The final start time remains weather-dependent, and conditions may change at short notice. Any further updates will be shared through the organisers’ social media channels.

Good luck to the team as they prepare to take on the North Channel. 🏆⛵

05/08/2026

𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗟𝗢𝗗𝗚𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗠𝗘’𝗦 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗦 𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗘

A major piece of Bangor’s waterfront regeneration has moved from the consultation boards into the formal planning system.

Planning application LA06/2026/0450/F has now been submitted for the complete redevelopment of Ballyholme Yacht Club, replacing its ageing clubhouse, boathouse and marine infrastructure with a modern watersports centre overlooking Ballyholme Bay.

The proposal would see the existing buildings demolished and replaced by a unified, contemporary waterfront building extending to approximately 1,600 square metres. Large glazed elevations would face the bay, with terraces, a first-floor balcony and a design intended to preserve existing sightlines from neighbouring properties.

The marine works are just as significant. The main slipway would be resurfaced and widened, the old northern slipway infilled to create additional hardstanding, and the existing finger jetty replaced with a wider reinforced-concrete structure. A new slipway would also be constructed beside the jetty, while rock armour and strengthening works would provide greater protection to the northern boatyard.

𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘆𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯

One of the most important aspects of the scheme is that it has been designed to reach well beyond the existing club membership.

A new ground-floor café would be open to the public, with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the gardens and coastline. Landscaped courtyards, terraces and amenity spaces would help make the centre a new stopping point along Bangor’s coastal walking route.

Inside, the plans include flexible wet-training rooms with direct access to the water, a dedicated cadet room to encourage younger participants, and a divisible function space with a lounge, bar and balcony overlooking the bay.

Accessibility is central to the design. The proposals include three independent accessible changing rooms, level access throughout, an eight-person lift and a specially designed jetty fitted with hoist sockets. This would allow sailors who cannot transfer independently to take part in accessible sailing activities.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗿

The planning statement describes the development as a future regional centre for watersports, capable of attracting larger national and international events to waters already well known for competitive sailing.

For local residents, the public café, taster sessions, training courses and improved facilities could open the site to many people who may never previously have considered sailing or watersports. For Bangor’s economy, visiting competitors, families and spectators would bring additional spending into accommodation, hospitality and local businesses.

It is also a key part of the wider Bangor Waterfront Programme and its proposed “necklace of attractions” stretching along approximately two miles of coastline. The wider programme is described as benefiting from £40 million of Belfast Region City Deal funding, alongside £20 million from the Council, with additional private investment being sought.

The new building would incorporate rooftop solar panels, air-source heat pumps, high-performance insulation and extensive natural daylight. The planning statement estimates that space-heating demand would be around 51 per cent lower than a typical new building, helping to reduce long-term energy use and running costs.

Subject to planning permission, construction is currently hoped to begin in May 2027, with completion scheduled for May 2029. The work would be delivered in phases to allow club activities to continue where possible.

This is not simply a proposal for a smarter yacht clubhouse. It is a plan for a more accessible, public-facing and environmentally efficient watersports centre, capable of strengthening Bangor’s position as one of Northern Ireland’s leading coastal destinations.

The application has been submitted, but it has not yet been approved. It will now be assessed through the formal planning process.

05/08/2026

⛵ YOU WOODEN BELIEVE IT!

There are now four beautiful heritage sailing vessels berthed in Bangor Marina.

The latest arrival is Klevia, fresh from Dunstaffnage on Scotland’s west coast, joining Voyager, Cruinneag III and Spirit of Falmouth.

With their timber masts, classic lines and traditional rigging, they make quite a sight together. Well worth a walk around the marina while all four are still in town.

📸 Have you spotted them yet?

04/08/2026

𝗔 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗢 𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗢𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗥
Bangor Marina and Harbour are currently hosting a remarkable trio of traditional sailing vessels, creating something of a temporary floating maritime exhibition on our waterfront.

The oldest is the black-hulled Voyager, built in Maine in 1929. Inspired by the powerful Gloucester fishing schooners of America’s Atlantic coast, she has spent almost a century sailing, racing, crossing oceans and surviving extensive restoration.

Alongside her is the beautifully varnished Cruinneag III, launched at Tarbert in Scotland in 1936. Built from thick teak over oak frames, she retains much of the craftsmanship and elegance of a luxurious pre-war cruising yacht.

Completing the trio is the much larger Spirit of Falmouth, a 92-foot gaff schooner built in 1984. Today she is operated by the charity Turn to Starboard, using sailing and traditional seamanship to support military veterans and their families.

Each vessel represents a different chapter of sailing history: the rugged American schooner, the refined Scottish cruising yacht and the modern tall ship with a valuable social purpose.

For anyone who appreciates wooden hulls, towering masts, traditional rigging or simply the romance of sailing under canvas, Bangor’s waterfront is well worth a visit while all three remain in port.

📸 Voyager, Cruinneag III and Spirit of Falmouth, photographed in Bangor by BangorByTheSea.

Bangor by the Sea

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