Progress at last on £12m Fort George bid

Earlier, this year NISP Chair Frank Hewitt warned that the byzantine administration of the grant bid for Fort George’s mooted Science Park had been “disappointing” and that funders needed to realise opportunities “will very often slip away” if timescales were not met.

Mr Hewitt, who is also a member of the ILEX board, told the Stormont Enterprise Committee that the slow appraisal of the application, by SEUPB, was frustrating.

But now progress has finally been made after the SEUPB sent a draft letter of offer to the North West Region Cross Border Group (NWRCBG) saying Europe was prepared to provide the 14m euro requested.

A joint ministerial statement announcing the multi-million pound package is expected in October.

Mr Durkan said: “It is encouraging that such progress is being made on one of the planks of the ‘One Plan.’ This is a key regional project which matters not just to Derry but the whole north-west and, indeed, the wider North.

“This funding is a welcome sign of the potential that a new Science Park would offer to secure investment and employment in Derry.”

Touted as ‘a transformational science park project’ and the ‘flagship envisaged for Fort George’ it’s been suggested the park could yield up to 280 jobs for Londonderry when completed

Welcoming the revelation of the £12m funding offer last week Mr Durkan said: “Many have been frustrated by the lack of active development at the strategic Fort George site and the factors in such delay.

“We should all now be giving every encouragement to the North West Cross Border Group, Ilex and the Special EU Programmes Body to bring this project to fruition. Letterkenny IT’s positive stake in this regional, cross border landmark project also has to be recognised.

“This partnership development still has some way to go in terms of funding confirmation and implementation but the progress now being made is a welcome delivery indicator for part of the One Plan’s prospectus.

“It is no accident that among the people pushing very strongly for Project Kelvin were small and medium sized enterprises here – people who could understand the potential for themselves and how it would transform their business with new locational advantage with resource access.

“This opportunity really does put us in a different place if we can make the most of it.”

During his address to the Stormont Enterprise Committee Mr Hewitt warned the slow appraisal of the application by the SEUPB could jeopardise the scheme.

“That is not a criticism in any way. It is an observation of the process that I think they have to go through. Anything that can streamline the process would be beneficial not only to us - that would be a very selfish observation - but to other organisations in Northern Ireland that are seeking funding.

“The funding bodies have to realise that business opportunities present themselves in certain timescales and that if people cannot respond to those timescales, the opportunity will very often slip away,” said Mr Hewitt.