SEN accomodation part of halted Drumragh Integrated plans

AMBITIOUS plans for a multi-million transformation of Drumragh Integrated College have been shelved after the Department for Education revealed that funding was now no longer available.

The school on the Crevenagh Road outside Omagh is one of 10 at which planned programmes of work will now no longer go ahead.

Funding for the schemes was being granted as part of the 2015 Fresh Start Agreement.A total of £150 million of funding is now not available.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said that any remaining Fresh Start funding will still allow nine new build projects currently in construction contract to be completed and said that no building work will be stopped.

“There are a further ten potential new build projects in planning and design for which Fresh Start funding from the UK government is no longer available,” they said.

Planning permission for the Drumragh Integrated development had been granted by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

The plans included a new-build single storey extension to the existing building. Additional facilities featured a multi-purpose hall for PE, a fitness suite, technology room, four general classrooms and Special Educational Needs accommodation.

In addition, the current synthetic sports pitch was also planned for upgrading, while work was to be undertaken to the existing carpark provision to improve traffic management on the site.

The Education Minister Paul Givan has also written to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to request funding is restored to support these projects.

The DE said that £150m of funding from the Fresh Start Agreement has now been placed in the UK Government’s financial settlement for the Executive as funding for wider public sector transformation.