Rural areas set to benefit from regeneration scheme

WORK has recently commenced on a key rural village regeneration programme, which is designed to improve the visual appearance of targeted village and town centres across the district.

The scheme will focus on eight areas and will comprise mainly of the painting of the facades of commercial properties located within the defined target areas.

The painting works will be delivered over two separate contracts for Derg District Electoral Area (Castlederg, Newtownstewart and Sion Mills) and the Sperrin/Faughan District Electoral Area (Ballymagorry, Claudy, Donemana, Eglinton and Plumbridge).

The works programme is estimated to be delivered over the next six months with the first phase of works for each DEA having already commenced in Castlederg and Claudy.

Welcoming the commencement of the first phase of works in Castlederg and Claudy, Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Patrica Logue, said she was delighted to see work begin on this important regeneration project.

“This project represents a key collaborative rural regeneration initiative between Council and the respective Central Government Departments, and I would like to acknowledge the collective input all involved,” she said.

The scheme is supported by the Covid Recovery Small Settlements Programme, a collaboration between the Department for Communities (DfC), Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) working closely with local Councils to identify priority projects for delivery on the ground.