North Down
 

Email

North Down

The Constituency of North Down is situated on the southern shores of Belfast Lough. It has a particularly attractive natural environment combining coastline with countryside. It provides excellent opportunities for both work and recreation. The town of Bangor functions as a service and administrative centre as well as a market town and seaside resort. Donaghadee and Holywood are both popular residential areas with thriving and growing communities.

There are also a number of villages such as Crawfordsburn, Groomsport, Helen's Bay, Conlig and Seahill, and Millisle.

With just thirteen miles from Bangor to Belfast, North Down is linked by road and rail networks to ports and to Belfast City Airport.

North Down is acknowledged as one of the most tranquil and stable areas in Northern Ireland.

Population
North Down has a growing population estimated at 4.5% of the total Northern Ireland population. Of all the areas in Northern Ireland, North Down has the lowest proportion of young people and it has the highest proportion of elderly residents.

Employment
A significant proportion of the workforce commutes to work, mostly to Belfast. The vast majority of the working population are employed in the service sectors. The highest employers are retail, public administration / defence and health and social work.

There is a narrow manufacturing base in the area and this is concentrated in small firms. There are over 1,400 VAT registered businesses located in North Down although the vast majority of them employ less than 10 people.

The wards with the highest numbers unemployed (January 2002) include Harbour (152), Conlig (113), Clandeboye (98), Ballymagee (77) and Dufferin (74). The majority of those unemployed (79%) had been unemployed for less than one year.

Deprivation
Although North Down area is ranked as the least deprived local government district in Northern Ireland there are nevertheless recognised pockets of high unemployment and areas displaying the characteristics of severe social deprivation.

Education
North Down has an exceptionally well-educated workforce and a higher than average number of graduates. Schools in the area have some of the best GCSE and A Level performance results in Northern Ireland.

South Eastern Regional College provides second level, third level and vocational education and training at several sites in the area. The Institute has the fourth highest number of enrolments in Northern Ireland.

Housing
North Down has a total housing stock of approximately 31,170 dwellings. Owner occupation stands at 78% compared to a Northern Ireland average of 63%. North Down has the highest level of owner occupied housing in Northern Ireland.

Tourism and Amenities
North Down is a successful tourist resort and it is one of the best performing Councils in the province. There has been substantial private investment in creating a pool of high quality local hotels.

Apart from direct infrastructure investment by the Council including the marina in Bangor, the coastal path between Holywood and Bangor and the Pickie Family Fun Park that attracts over 300,000 visitors each year, the Council also organises major events to draw visitors to the area.

The place to be
Other attractions include the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, (the most popular museum/visitor centre in Northern Ireland), Bangor Heritage Centre, several golf courses, a new trout fishery in Holywood, Crawfordsburn Country Park, a multiplex cinema and many water-based activities. Other leisure facilities, such as parks and the new Bangor Sportsplex at Ballykillare have enhanced facilities for visitors and residents alike.

Industry, Business and Commerce
The manufacturing sector of the local economy, mainly located in the Balloo industrial estate in Bangor, is dominated by small enterprises. North Down has a relatively low manufacturing base. Plastics injection moulding, light engineering, IT and multi-media make up the main industry clusters.

In recent years local enterprises have been successful in exporting goods and services to places such as Canada, USA, Australia and Austria.

The recently extended Bloomfield Shopping Centre in Bangor provides leading brand shopping in an American-style mall environment. As well as the main retail outlets in the town centres of Bangor, Holywood and Donaghadee, there are a number of other shopping facilities the Flagship Centre in the heart of Bangor and Clandeboye retail park on the periphery of Bangor.

One challenge facing the area is to encourage new investment without seriously undermining the existing town centres which currently need regenerated. A further issue is the on-going development of edge-of-city retailing on the periphery of North Down.