Derry City Council has ordered the owners of the former St Peter’s High School in Creggan to either secure the site or demolish it.
The school has remained vacant since it closed its doors for the final time at the end of June. Since then it has become a regular target for arsonists.
The most serious of the incidents, the most recent of which occurred last week, occurred earlier this month when up to six fire crews fought a serious blaze. During that incident firefighters carried out a thorough search of the building when the fire was at its heights after been wrongly-informed a number of young people were trapped in the building.
A spokesperson for Derry City Council confirmed to Derry Daily that a notice under article 66 of The Pollution Control and Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 has been served on the owners of the former school.
The notice requires the owners to either secure the site or alternatively to demolish it.
The spokesperson said council officers were working closely with the owners and other stakeholders to review the situation on a regular basis.
The council action comes after a former Mayor of Derry called on the City Council to take “emergency steps” to secure the site.
Cllr Kevin Campbell, Sinn Fein representative for the Creggan area, had called on the council to issue an “Article 66” on the school’s trustees.
Cllr Campbell was speaking after he hosted a roundtable meeting attended by the Derry City Council environmental health officers, Apex Housing, PSNI, Triax and the Catholic Church to thrash out a speedy resolution to the many issues raised by residents, about the current state of the school and what steps have been taken to demolish the school and clear the site.
Revealing he had held discussions with the Department of Education and representatives of the Derry Diocese, Cllr Campbell said it had become “very clear” there were a number of issues around the demolition and clearing of the site that still needed to be resolved.
Cllr Campbell added: “Due to this and the seriousness of the situation I have now called on Derry City Council to issue what is known as an ‘Article 66 which calls on the owners of the site to move immediately to secure the building and the site around it.”
Cllr Campbell also revealed he was working with the various agencies to ensure the demolition and clearing of the site was a top priority.
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