1. Pat Mulvenna North East Partnership NSMC office Armagh 30 th April 2015

2. The NEP area

3. RIVER Project £1.2million INTERREG IVA funding for the ‘Regeneration of Villages on Inland Waterways and Emergency Rescue Services’.

4. LocationProject INTERREG funding Total value of project Belturbet Construction of a replacement floating jetty, car parking, lighting and associated access requirements £223k£236k DrumaheglisDevelop a multi-purpose building at the marina£250k£514k Kilrea To provide a cycle path from the town to the river and to improve waterside access £273k£529k Portglenone To develop an additional jetty offering 12 new berths, canoe steps and environmental improvements £320k£532k Community Rescue Service To provide 16 secure handheld radio sets to assist with search and rescue operations and water based training £11Kn/a

5. Project Objectives Four regeneration schemes implemented To measurably increase local community usage of the facilities To measurably increase the visitor numbers to the facilities To measurably increase the visitor usage satisfaction levels

8. RIVER project

13. Additional support included: Installation of electronic footfall counters Integrated Marketing support – including new brand, marketing strategy and PR campaign (2 maps, schools competition and ‘Best of Awards’) Workshops and meetings with location reps and other stakeholders

16. Progress so far? Easter 2015 event at Drumaheglis attracted well over 1000 people compared to a few hundred the previous year. Belturbet marina is now being used extensively by all sections of the community, particularly children and the elderly as it is safer and more accessible. The outdoor gym equipment is extremely popular. The new jetty is constantly full of boats even out of season. Portglenone is now established as a major node on the Bann and has a year round programme of festivals and sporting events. Through the improvements, Kilrea is starting to address the issue of the river being physically divided from the town.

17. Lessons learnt – critical success factors Standardised data collection Greater stakeholder collaboration Position river-based activity within overarching Development/Tourism Plans Integrated Marketing and PR

19. Thank you pat.mulvenna@ballymena.gov.uk