MLAs join forces over former school site delays

IN an act of bi-partisanship, the SDLP and DUP have, this week, joined forces to apply pressure on the Department for Education (DoE) to sign off on a Community Asset Transfer for the former Strabane Grammar site.

West Tyrone MLAs Daniel McCrossan and Tom Buchanan penned a letter this week to Permanent Secretary Mark Brown, urging him to expedite the process of agreement so that Derry City and Strabane District Council could then express a solid interest in the site.

Last August, the two MLAs wrote to the Education Authority (EA) to have them deem the site ‘surplus to requirements’, and the EA agreed to that in November.

However, three months on, and the decision is yet to be made final.

In the letter, they reiterated how the site has lain dormant since 2019, when the school was relocated into a state-of-the-art facility on the Derry Road, and that successive education ministers had given written assurances to protect the site.

The letter also documented how the site has been the victim of numerous acts of vandalism and arson, in particular the historic buildings.

The joint statement reads, “It is now over three-and-a-half-years since this site became vacant.

“What worries both of us is that all these delays increase the possibility that these buildings will be lost to the local community through vandalism.

“We urge the Education Department to agree to this disposal so the council can explore a Community Asset Transfer and that the local community could use this site.

“We are of the view that these delays are unacceptable, and we will continue to press the Education Department and Education Authority to allow the council to start its due diligence process.

“We cannot lose these building because of dithering or indecision.”