NW bid for £80mpoverty cash pot

Up to twenty projects aimed at tackling poverty, unemployment and dereliction in poor areas of Londonderry and the Western Trust will benefit from an £80m state investment. Area plans for investment zones in Londonderry and the Western Trust area were due to be submitted to OFMDFM at the end of February.

Declan Mackin of Consultancy RSM McClure worked with local political and voluntary leaders in Londonderry on a plan.

His colleague, John Lavery worked with local stakeholders across the Western Trust area on a separate plan.

Londonderry and the Western Trust were both established among nine investment zones that will benefit from an £80m fund to tackle deprivation and dereliction under the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF).

The area plans have been reviewed by steering groups that in Londonderry includes: Alison Wallace, Charles Lamberton, Darren Kirby, Noel McCartney, Ann Donnelly, Drew Thompson, Paul Fleming and Marion Quinn; and in the Western Trust includes: Dr Norman Baxter, Gerard Harkin, Liz Kavanagh, Maureen McKeague, Alison Brimstone, Derek Hussey, Michaela Boyle and Sean Lynch.

It is expected each zone will have up to a maximum of ten strategic projects that tackle more than one of four strategic objectives: poverty, unemployment, increasing services and dereliction.

Now the OFMDFM Ministers have stated that completion of a draft area plan for consideration by the local steering groups should have been completed by January 31, 2013.

They said: “Endorsed Completed Area Plans and all required supporting documentation must be submitted to OFMDFM on behalf of the Steering Group in hard copy and electronically by noon 28 February 2013.”

Despite Londonderry being included as an investment zone the Ministers previously warned that areas of need will have to be isolated within the city to ensure the funding is not spread too thin.

“However, we must balance this with the need to ensure that Funds are not diluted to the point of minimal impact and, as such, eligibility criteria will be applied to areas within each zone,” they stated.

Under the SIF only poorer areas are eligible for projects.

Only areas which can provide independently verified and robust evidence of objective need will benefit from the £80m in funding.

A number of potential zones including separate Londonderry and Greater North West zones had been suggested in an original consultation document on the proposals for the province-wide SIF.

Last year First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness revealed that following a public consultation in late 2011 the Executive had agreed nine investment zones including Londonderry and the Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT) area.