Do you remember when . . . . Newtownabbey was to become township

The Belfast Urban Area Interim Planning Report predicted that Newtownabbey would have a population of upwards of 80,000 by 1981.

The report suggested that leisure centres should be built in Monkstown and at Doagh Road, swimming baths constructed in Rathcoole instead of the Valley Playing Fields and Carnmoney should have an 18-hole golf course.

A park was suggested for Three-Mile Water Valley running from Belfast Lough through Monkstown to Mossley.

It was anticipated that a “large proportion” of the population , between 30 and 40,000 people would be located in the Mossley area.

Shopping facilities were described as “generally deficient”.

Road congestion could be tackled with a ring road and reducing through traffic.