82 bed nursing home for Irish Street

The 1.4 acre site at the corner of Irish Street and Belt Road has now been purchased - it was originally offered at an asking price of £550k - and Brooklands Healthcare intends building the new old folks home.

Plans lodged with the local planning office specify an: “82 bed healthcare facility to include facilities for dementia care, elderly mentally infirm (EMI) and general nursing including landscaping, parking and associated site works.”

Last April the Sentinel reported how the site was to be sold and put to alternative use.

Staff at the old water service depot have been relocated to the nearby Gelvin Grange depot.

Finance Minister Sammy Wilson had revealed the sale in response to an Assembly Question stating that the Department of Finance and Personnel (DfP) has “had an offer accepted on 1A Belt Road, Londonderry.”

NI Water’s lease on the property of £125k per year expired on Saturday, March 31, 2012.

Last year in a promotional brochure Estate Agency O’Connor Kennedy and Turtle said the civil service were open to offers of around £550,000 for an “assumed freehold or long leasehold subject to nominal peppercorn rent.”

The firm stated: “Suggested alternative uses for the site, subject to Planning Permission - Social Housing/Nursing Home Care/Retail etc.

“Adjacent to major food and non-food retailing complexes, as such a possible extension to this type of inner city facility.”