- Target:
- Ards Borough Council
- Region:
- Northern Ireland
Thank you for supporting Exploris. Exploris has now been saved by the Northern Ireland Executive agreeing to award a capital grant for refurbishment and remodelling to make it more sustainable. Our campaign helped to achieve this.
Exploris in Portaferry is a unique facility for tourism, education and recreation within Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's only aquarium and reflects the very special marine environment of Strangford Lough, an Area of Special Scientific Interest, and the neighbouring Irish Sea. It has a seal sanctuary and tends to other distressed marine creatures.
It provides seawater for the adjacent Queens University Marine Laboratory. While Exploris does not make money and has substantial running costs, it delivers a footfall of 100 000 people a year to Portaferry, which has a tremendous impact for local businesses in an area already suffering from high unemployment and rural deprivation.
The loss of Exploris will have a devastating effect on Portaferry and the surrounding area.
We the undersigned feel that Ards Borough Council should reconsider the recommendation of its Development Committee and should keep Exploris open.
The Save Exploris petition to Ards Borough Council was written by Eleanor Brown and is in the category Local Government at GoPetition.