Old health centre refurbishment to create 250 new jobs in Omagh

THE destiny of Omagh’s derelict health centre was recently decided when a long-lodged planning application was authorised.

The site will now be transformed into a cutting-edge Enterprise and Innovation Hub that will host 50 commercial outfits, creating around 250 new jobs.

It is estimated that the £5.5million Hub, which in 2021 secured £4 million through the UK government’s ‘Levelling Up Fund’, will primarily provide small and flexible office space for local businesses.

The old health centre building, which sits on the corner of Mountjoy Road and Old Mountfield Road, was closed in 2017 after four GP practices relocated to the then new Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Complex.

After of years of hard work, Omagh Enterprise Company, which bought the property off the Western Trust in 2018, finally received planning permission from Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC) to make the space once again an asset to the people of Omagh.

Chief executive of Omagh Enterprise Company, Nick O’Sheil, has told We Are Tyrone that everyone at the company is ‘delighted that planning permission has been granted’.

“We will now be working with the planners to choose a contractor by January or February of next year, and round 15 months after that, the work should be complete.”

Mr O’Sheil continued, “When finished, there will be 64 office spaces, which will be used by around 50 small to medium sized start-up businesses, and this should create about 250 new jobs.

“As well as that there will be pharmacy and new electric vehicle charging points in the car park.”

Mr O’Sheil believes that this ambitious project could ‘enliven’ what has in recent years been a quiet part of Omagh town.

“This has been a slow part of the town for some time now, but I hope that the Hub can be the beginning of a new era for it.

“You will also have 250 employees heading into the town for their lunch and grabbing coffees from the town centre. It should have positive knock on effects for the local economy too.”