Council contacts education chiefs over plans for Omagh sites

FERMANAGH and Omagh District Council has been in contact with the Department of Education regarding plans for the school sites that will be left vacant once the Strule Shared Education Campus is completed.

A local committee – comprising councillors, council officials, and representatives from statutory bodies and business organisations – meets regularly to help shape the future of these key town centre locations.

Initial proposals for the sites were outlined three years ago in the ‘Omagh Place Shaping Plan’, which covers the period up to 2035.

According to the plan:

• Omagh CBS is earmarked for potential mixed-use redevelopment, depending on market demand, with options including retail and residential, as well as community allotments or open space.
• Omagh High School is to be reviewed by the Education Authority to determine future use.
• Omagh Academy could also be redeveloped for retail or housing purposes.
• The Loreto Grammar site is seen as a possible location for a hotel or a religious/wellbeing retreat centre.
• Sacred Heart College may be temporarily used for community allotments, with longer-term plans suggesting medium-density affordable housing.

Speaking at last week’s sod-cutting ceremony for the long-awaited Strule Campus, Education Minister Paul Givan said it was vital that the vacated sites are ‘utilised effectively’.

“In any project, when a new build happens, the Education Authority reviews the old facility, whether to repurpose it for another educational use, or to dispose of it and open it up for potential development,” he said.

“These are decisions that need to be worked through in partnership with local authorities, with the Education Authority taking the lead. It’s a positive challenge to have, because for so long we were simply trying to get to the point where these schools would even be built.

“This is something the local council has raised with me, and it’s important that, as the project moves forward, we give serious thought to how the existing school estate will be used once the schools relocate to the new campus.”

The latest edition of the WAT’s The Story podcast will look in-depth at the plans for the Strule campus in Omagh. The podcast will be available on the usual channels from tomorrow morning, May 22.