Environment Minister Mark H Durkan and the Planning Service have been called on to make a “clear declaration” of intent about what the future holds for the massive H2 site on the Buncrana Road on the outskirts of Derry.
Sinn Finn Cllr Tony Hassan.
The call comes from Sinn Fein Councillor Tony Hassan who claimed some banks were not prepared to finance several construction companies in the Derry area because of lack of movement by the Planning Service in the city
Cllr Hassan said: “Applications on this site have been with the Planning Service for over 10 years and still not one application has been approved. Sinn Féin have been lobbying for some time at the Assembly and City Council level for the planning service to make decisions on a number of planning applications at the H2 site along the Buncrana Road.
“I have been very vocal about the need to develop this site as we’ve been told that the development if fully completed could be as big as Strabane.
Cllr Hassan said since he made a public appeal a few weeks ago about the H2 site, he had been approached by a number of business people in the city connected to the construction industry very concerned about “this logjam.”
He added: ‘In several instances they have told me that some of the banks were unwilling to lend them money because there has been little or no movement by the planning service.
“The development of this site would bring work to the construction industry and take many constructing workers off the dole, it would help regenerate and bring investment to the area and also help keep people from leaving the city to find work elsewhere.”
Cllr Hassan concluded: “There must be a review and a fundamental change of planning policy in this city we can’t afford the loss of this development on the Buncrana Road. The Environment Minister Mark H Durkan and the Planning Service should make a clear declaration of intent about what the future holds for the H2 site on the Buncrana Road.”
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