A PORTION of the former Fort George British army barracks site in Derry has been sold to the Western Health Trust for development as a health and care centre.
The Department of the Communities (DfC) confirmed on Wednesday that 1.7 acres of the 11-acre site has been sold for the development of a purpose-built care hub on Derry’s city side.
The last remaining undeveloped land bank on the city side, Fort George was taken over by the British army in 1970. The barracks remained under military control until 2001 when it was returned to Derry’s Port and Harbour Commission. It was taken over by DfC in 2004.
Following de-contamination, the only major development on the land has been the building of the Catalyst, not-for-profit building which houses a number of businesses.
Announcing the sale of the site, DfC director, Pauline Campbell said the department has been working closely with the health trust “in a spirit of cooperation”.
Ms Campbell said: “DfC is committed to delivering programmes that target the social, economic and physical regeneration of our communities, not just in Derry/Londonderry, but across the north west.”
Trust chief executive, Neil Guckian said the new health and care hub would delivery high quality integrated primary, community and acute services. Mr Guckian said the development of the site would lead to the creation of approximately 250 new permanent jobs as well as centralising approximately 450 positions when completed.
“This development demonstrates the trust taking the steps necessary to ensure the infrastructure is in place to address the growing demands across all our services,” Mr Guckian said.
