Panel to advise Executive on rebirth of military base

Plans to revitalise Ebrington barracks, the site earmarked for regeneration, was given a timely boost on Thursday when it was announced that a public private partnership has been set up to steer its growth.

Local government, the community and business sector representatives will make up the partnership panel which will advise the Executive on how best to tackle the strategic revitalisation of the 160-year old military base which overlooks the River Foyle.

Announcing the partnership on Thursday, the First Minister David Trimble and Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan said they wanted to use local experience and expertise to advise them on the best use of this strategically important site.

“Over the years, this city has been an example of positive self-help,” the ministers said.

“In planning for the re-development of Ebrington, we want to ensure that we draw on the best local talent as well as bringing input from other areas including international experience.

“The development of the Barracks, once a symbol of our troubled past, must create a dynamo for regional revitalisation in an integrated, balanced and environmentally friendly way.”

Last week the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced that the Maze Prison and the adjacent MoD site at Long Kesh; Ebrington Barracks, Derry; Crumlin Road prison, Belfast; Magherafelt Barracks, County Londonderry; Windsor Park Barracks and Malone Road Barracks, Belfast will all be handed to the Executive for resale and regeneration.

The Social Development Minister Nigel Dodds said that his department must have a central role in any developments: “It is important to recognise that the Department for Social Development has sole powers for undertaking comprehensive development schemes and will therefore have a key role to play in the successful regeneration of the Ebrington site.

“In March of this year I announced that the future development of key sites in the centre of the city - including Ebrington Barracks and Fort George – would be the subject of a major design study. In partnership with all the key stakeholders in Londonderry the ‘Heart of the City Study’ will produce strategic proposals for the development of the Ebrington site.”

(AMcE)