Minister sets aside £50m for economic regeneration

Economy Minister Ian Pearson has pledged to set aside £50 million to establish a new Integrated Development Fund which aims to accelerate economic development in deprived areas over the next two years.

The Minister said it would be up to the Executive to decide on which areas to invite to submit bids and that such bids would be dependent on, among other things, local councils, government departments, statutory bodies and Local Strategic Partnerships working speedily together in a coherent and coordinated way to come up with agreed masterplans on how best to develop their areas.

The Minister has also pledged a £2 million budget for the next 18 months in accelerating economic development in the North West.

The money will go towards the work of the Urban Regeneration Company (URC) and its aim of helping together "an integrated development plan, bringing together all aspects of public sector and private sector investment".

He said: "I know that recent job losses have dented confidence locally and I am keen to see the rapid development of key targeted initiatives to support the return of the unemployed to work. Both Derry and Strabane have been chosen as pilot areas for this scheme, and considerable resources will be set aside over the next three years.

“Over the last three years, over £17 million has been provided by Invest NI to assist the textile and clothing industry in Northern Ireland, a significant proportion of this assisting the sector in the North West. It will continue to work with the industry to support businesses and jobs.

“However, even with these initiatives, I think we need to do more to generate the right level of development and dynamic required. Key to this is ensuring that the private sector is involved. That is why I am today proposing a development of the existing Executive Programme Funds which were created by the Executive to encourage joined up investment."

The Minister said areas such as the North West, with its high unemployment and the challenges to its textile industry may have a strong case as priority areas.

He also said the Executive would have to decide on the exact areas and allocations but he was planning to create a new Executive Programme Fund of £20 million and £30 million, in 2003/04 and 2004/05 to address the needs of these areas.

As well as his visit to Londonderry, the Minister is also to meet with representatives of Magherafelt and Limavady District Councils to discuss recent job losses in the textile industry and to listen to their views on potential future uses for the former military base in Magherafelt, which was transferred by the MoD as part of the Reinvestment and Reform Initiative.

(MB)