Original plans Craigavon was
planned as a 'new city' for Northern Ireland that would mirror towns such as
Cumbernauld and, later,
Milton Keynes in
Great Britain. It was conceived as a
linear city that would link the towns of
Lurgan and
Portadown to create a single urban area and identity. The argument for a new town was based on projections indicating population increases over the following decades that would require large-scale house building. Similar projects successfully attracting economic growth had been successfully completed in
Great Britain, so it was in some ways a symbol of Northern Ireland as both modern and a part of the British mainstream. The Craigavon Development Commission was appointed in October 1965 to develop the 'new city'. About 6,000 acres of land between Lurgan and Portadown was vested from farmers at £6 an acre. Several reasons have been suggested for the suitability of the site including the existing population centres, industrial base, nearness to
Belfast and the belief that Craigavon would help spread development away from Belfast. It was hoped that residents of Belfast would be attracted by the suburban nature of Craigavon's design and that business would see it as an interesting alternative. Cash incentives were offered to some families moving to Craigavon. The design of Craigavon was based on
Modernism and imbued with the spirit of the age. The plan separated motor vehicles from
pedestrians and cyclists wherever possible, creating a network of paths allowing residents to travel across Craigavon without encountering traffic. The road network for motor vehicles used
roundabouts instead of
traffic lights at junctions, giving the planners the ability to easily increase the number of lanes if it became necessary. Electricity and other cables were placed underground and street lighting was standard throughout. The planners clustered the housing developments around small 'village centres' with associated retail space, leisure facilities, post offices, primary schools, pharmacies, community centres and other civic amenities. All estates were built with security in mind, with one vehicle entry/exit point.
Single-use zoning was part of the design; there was a total separation of industrial land-use from all other uses. Craigavon was designed to be a very child-friendly environment with small playgrounds dotted throughout the residential areas. There was an emphasis on providing green space in the housing estates and safe paths to cycle on.
National Cycle Route 9 passes through the town. The new town was also provided with many civic amenities including a leisure centre, library, shopping centre, civic centre, a large park with artificial lakes, playing fields, a petting zoo, public gardens and an artificial ski slope. Craigavon Civic Centre was built at a cost of £3 million and was officially opened by the
Duke of Abercorn in April 1983.
Difficulties There was controversy over the decision to build a 'new city' in the mainly
Protestant/
unionist east rather than to develop the mainly
Catholic city of
Derry. There was also controversy over the decision to name it after the
James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon (1871–1940), a Protestant unionist leader. Some unionists also felt the decision was unwise and counterproductive to building cross-community relations. Knockmena (a corruption of the townland name, Knockmenagh) was the preferred name nationalists hoped would be used, and which might have attracted broad acceptance on both sides. On 6 July 1965, it was announced that the new city would be named Craigavon after Craig. A noted nationalist, Joseph Connellan, interrupted the announcement with the comment, "A Protestant city for a Protestant people". Irish Labour MP
Gerry Fitt described the naming of the new city as "a calculated insult" and Nationalist MP for
East Tyrone Austin Currie said "To call this new city after someone who is looked upon by over one-third of the population as an arch-bigot is something that ought to be abhorred." Problems began to come to light when it emerged that some housing estates had been built with materials and techniques that had not been fully tested, with the result that insulation, sound-proofing and durability were lacking. This was compounded by the outbreak of '
the Troubles' in the late 1960s, which resulted in sectarian violence and segregation. Investment into Northern Ireland dried up and emigration rose. The Craigavon Development Commission was wound up in 1973 and
Craigavon Borough Council created. The area's main employer,
Goodyear, had a large fan-belt factory in the Silverwood industrial estate, and at the time it was Europe's largest factory. However, the plant failed to make money on a consistent basis, and had to shut in 1983. Craigavon became notorious for its many roundabouts. They were unarmed, leading to claims of a
shoot-to-kill policy by security forces. The RUC denied this, saying the men had driven through the checkpoint. The
Craigavon mobile shop killings took place on 28 March 1991, when the
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) shot dead three
Catholic civilians in the Drumbeg estate. A gunman shot the two teenage girls working in the mobile shop: Eileen Duffy (19) and Katrina Rennie (16). He then forced a male customer, Brian Frizzell (29), to lie on the pavement and shot him also. There are allegations of
collusion between the UVF and police. On 14 November 1991 the UVF
shot dead three more civilians on Carbet Road as they were driving home from work at the Hyster forklift factory: Desmond Rogers (54), Fergus Magee (28), and John Lavery (27). The
Continuity IRA shot dead PSNI officer
Stephen Carroll in Craigavon on 10 March 2009, the first police fatality in Northern Ireland since the
Good Friday Agreement in 1998. ==Geography==