800 job scheme proposed for Arntz site

Arntz Belting Company has agreed a proposal to redevelop its site at Pennyburn, once the company ceases production.

It is envisaged the multi-million pound development could create more than 800 new jobs.

Proposals discussed for the site include a major retail food outlet, a hotel and research and development facilities.

The proposal for the approximately 12 acre site, adjoining Pernnyburn Industrial Estate, bucks the recent trend towards 'out of town'

development in the city and is understood to be supported by Derry City Council's Development Department.

Details of the plan will be outlined to the City Council's Development Committee on December 14th.

A spokesperson for the company says Arntz agreed to consider ways of developing the site - as part of its legacy to the people of Londonderry - when it met a trade union delegation, including council officials and political representatives, in Hanover in Germany last March.

Managing Director Robert Moore says he believes the company is displaying its social responsibility towards the city after many years of co-operation with its people.

In total 180 workers at the manufacturing plant have been affected by the uncertainty at the plant over the past two years with the final blow coming with the announcement in January that 115 remaining workers were to lose their jobs.

Arntz's parent company Optibelt have admitted moving machines from Londonderry to a new Optibelt plant in Romania last year though said the removal was "a strategic response to specific product being manufactured in areas of greatest demand" and unrelated to the Arntz closure.

SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan said: "It is welcome that Arntz are looking towards future economic activity on this significant site.

"People will want to look at the proposed mix of uses for the site given its direct proximity to Pennyburn Industrial Estate as well as neighbouring homes.

"While people may have their own questions about some of the detail, it is important that this site should not be lost as a location for employment.

"Forward-looking plans could complement wider developments in that area of the city."