Clooney Masterplans  - 18 February 2010

I am delighted to join you today to celebrate what is genuinely a milestone in the transformation of the Waterside and the wider city.

I am particularly pleased to see that so many of those who joined with us in October 2006 when my Department launched its regeneration master plan for the Clooney lands are here again today.

I hardly need labour the symbolism of transforming a former military site into a superb, modern educational campus but nonetheless this achievement does speak volumes about how far Derry- Londonderry has travelled in the transition from conflict.

This city is firmly on the path from contested to shared, space and the agenda is now one of transformation, partnership and working together to create a better future for all and most particularly for our young people.

The regeneration master plan for the Clooney lands published by my Department in 2006 contained three core elements designed to maximise the potential that these assets possess to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits to local people.

I am pleased to be able to say that by working in partnership across Departments, with colleagues in local government, with the schools sector, with the university and of course with local people we have met the challenge we set ourselves in 2006.

For the first time in this city we can look forward to completing the transformation of a former military site into something that can be accessed and used positively by the whole community.  I am delighted that my Department has played a central role in such an important process.

In December last I transferred some of my Department’s lands at Clooney to Foyle and Londonderry College and in so doing ensured that the central element of the regeneration plan will be delivered with the creation of a flagship educational campus housing new builds for both the College and Ebrington Primary School.

As part of that transfer process my Department also secured an option agreement between Foyle and the University of Ulster which now provides the university with the firm commitment it had sought on the land required for the future expansion of its Magee campus.  This puts in place the second key objective set out in the master plan.

In respect of the third master plan objective my Department has now also reached agreement in principle with Derry City Council on the construction of the Clooney Greenway and the upgrading of the existing playing fields.

While this element will of course be subject to the normal statutory approvals and budgetary considerations and will require consultation with local people, the Greenway has the potential to provide almost two miles of high quality pedestrian and cycle pathway to the rear of the new school campus.

This can provide safe routes to school for the pupils and benefit the wider community by creating extensive linkages from the Kilfennan Valley Park through the Clooney lands, St.Columb’s Park, Ebrington and, once completed, across the new Peace Bridge right into the city centre.

We are now undoubtedly in the midst of the transformation of Derry.  We can see the tangible evidence of this in the work my Department is carrying out on the city centre public realm, in the Ilex work on construction of the new Peace bridge and other projects such as the new North West College buildings on the Strand Road.

With the successful delivery of the Clooney master plan we can now also look forward to seeing the new build for Ebrington Primary School completed by 2012 with Foyle and Londonderry College following in 2013.

This fundamental transformation of the urban landscape around Clooney delivers significant regeneration, educational and environmental benefits.  It will also create many exciting opportunities for people right across the city.

Can I finish by acknowledging the hard work and the contribution of all those involved in this process which will make the Waterside and indeed the wider city a more attractive place in which to live, work, raise a family and of course educate your children.