Almost 100 people gathered last week to discuss the future of Benone Holiday and Leisure Park Complex at a recent consultation meeting, hosted by Causeway Coast and Glen Borough Council.
The hall at the Benone Complex was packed last Thursday evening as interested local people and stakeholders - including Elected Members and Council staff – came together to share their thoughts on the matter.
The meeting comes after Council commissioned a Strategic Outline Case (SOC) last year relating to the future of the Benone Complex, identifying a number of options. While the report included a recommended way forward, Elected Members requested that a comprehensive stakeholder engagement process was undertaken to gather feedback from local people, visitors, and other stakeholders on their concerns and suggestions for the future. Ultimately, this will feed into the Council’s decision-making process.
Meeting attendees were given the opportunity to complete a short worksheet, where they were able to share their views on a future vision for the site and the challenges and opportunities that they thought needed to be addressed.
This was followed by a robust question and answer session, with a range of issues being discussed, including the importance of sustainably managing the site from a biodiversity and environmental perspective; the sense of place local people and visitors have for the site; the role of Council as a custodian of this asset; and the importance of investment in the site.
The findings of the consultation process will be present to Elected Members for consideration in the near future.
For those who were not able to attend the meeting, there is still an opportunity to complete the stakeholder survey available by clicking here.