Derry and Coleraine to benefit from neighbourhood fund

By Rebecca Black, PA

Derry and Coleraine are both set to receive a share of a £1.5 billion (€1.8 billion) funding pot for neighbourhoods.

The city and town in Co Derry are among 75 communities to benefit from the Plan for Neighbourhoods.

Each of the selected areas are to received up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade through the plan.

The find aims to help transform areas that may have been left behind, and unleash their full potential by investing in delivering improved vital community services from education, health and employment, to tackling local issues like crime.

Neighbourhood boards, made up of residents, local businesses, and grassroots campaigners, are set to implement a local vision for the plan.

Options range from repairs to pavements and high streets, to setting up low-cost community grocers providing low-cost alternatives when shopping for essentials, as well as co-operatives or even neighbourhood watches.

British deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said the plan puts local people in the driving seat.

“For years, too many neighbourhoods have been starved of investment, despite their potential to thrive and grow,” she said.

“Communities across the UK have so much to offer, rich cultural capital, unique heritage but most of all, an understanding of their own neighbourhood.

“We will do things differently, our fully funded Plan for Neighbourhoods puts local people in the driving seat of their potential.”

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn added: “I am delighted that the UK government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods will deliver £20m worth of investment each for Coleraine and Derry-Londonderry, providing a hugely welcome boost for those communities.

“This government is committed to supporting growth and public service transformation in Northern Ireland, and through the budget we are delivering the largest real-terms funding settlement for Northern Ireland since devolution.”