Causeway Coast and Glens City Deal pause a 'kick in teeth' - East Derry MLA says

East Derry SDLP MLA Cara Hunter has described the stall of the City Deal for the Causeway Coast and Glens area as a kick in the teeth.

Ms Hunter was speaking after confirmation that City Deals for Derry and Strabane District Council and the Belfast Region City Deal would go ahead.

The the Derry deal is now expected to be signed on Wednesday as originally intended. Clarification is being sought by ministers on the city and growth deals for Causeway Coast and Glens and Mid South West.

Ms Hunter said: "I'm very disappointed and deeply concerned at the reported pause of the City Deal for Causeway Coast and Glens and have written to the Secretary of State to ask for clarity and urge immediate action be taken.

"The failure to make progress on the proposed City Deal for this constituency represents another worrying development at a time when economic regeneration for the region is urgently needed. Causeway Coast and Glens is ranked as the fifth most deprived council area in the UK and clearly the failure to follow through with the City Deal is a kick in the teeth for the people that live here.

"There has been considerable anticipation for the opening of the food and drug discovery at Ulster University, Coleraine, the Innovation hub at North West Regional College, Limavady, major works on the Coleraine leisure centre, and the Dungiven and Bushmills greenway - news that these projects, amongst others, may have now have no future is unacceptable.

"People in East Derry can rest assured that I am not taking this news lightly and will be urging members of the British Government and all representatives for the region to come together and find a solution; simply abandoning the economic and infrastructural future of the wider northwest region is untenable."