Olivet Court - Corey’s Choice for New Ballygowan Homes

Pupils at Alexander Dickson Primary School have had to face a very different challenge in the classroom after Radius Housing tasked them with coming up with a name for a new housing development in Ballygowan. After lots of hard work, research and consideration, one pupil’s suggestion for naming the development came out top - and the new name for the 11-house development will be Olivet Court.

Olivet Court was the suggestion of Primary 7 pupil Corey Breen, and it has now been chosen as the winning name by Radius and approved by Ards & North Down Council. The new name was unveiled today by Radius Housing at a special event at the school. Helping Corey and his classmates launch the new name was Strangford MLA and Minister for Education, Michelle McIlveen.

Corey’s suggestion reflected the history of the area, where an old stone building beside the school was originally known as Olivet Home. Corey and his 21 school mates all made suggestions for the new name, and a shortlist of five was selected by Radius Housing, which was passed to Ards & North Down Council to approve the proposed name. To recognise the achievements and hard work of Corey and his schoolmates, Radius presented the children of five shortlisted entries with vouchers.

Olivet Court is the latest development from Radius Housing, one of the leading social housing providers in Northern Ireland. Radius manage more than 13,500 homes across Northern Ireland and target to build 400 new homes each year. Olivet Court is being built by Carrickmacstay Developments and the £1.8m development consists of six 2-bed semi detached homes, four 3-bed semi detached homes and one wheelchair accessible bungalow. The project is scheduled for completion in August 2023.

 Speaking at the naming event, John McLean, Radius Housing Chief Executive, said “ We are exited to unveil the special name of our new Olivet Court development today, and are thankful to Corey and everyone at Alexander Dickson Primary School for helping us to decide on a fitting name. The children came up with wonderful suggestions, which they had clearly spent time researching to bring connection to the local community and environment.

 “At Radius we aim to build communities, not just homes, and having local school children contribute to the area in this way gives them some ownership in helping do that. We want people in Ballygowan to be proud of their community, and Corey and his friends can know they played an important part in the success of Olivet Court.”

Richard Lawther, Principal of Alexander Dickson Primary School, said: “It was a great honour to be asked by Radius Housing to help select the name for their new development. The children started the exercise by studying the site plan and selecting the most appropriate suffix. They then set about researching Ballygowan’s past and came up with a list of fitting suggestions which incorporated the history of the area and I think it’s extra-special that the children chose to reflect what was a former children’s home in the new name. They will forever look at Olivet Court and remember the contribution that they played in shaping this area of our community.”  

ENDS

Further info:

Brendan Scott

MW Advocate

07834422923

brendan.scott@mwadvocate.com