Meeting being held next week to discuss plans to transform Derry's city centre
Business community given an opportunity to have their say on the proposals
A meeting will be held next week to discuss plans to revitalise Derry's city centre.
The local business community is being invited to give their input to the proposed interventions to encourage people to come back into the city centre when Covid restrictions ease.
The Business Engagement session will be hosted online at 9am on Thursday, March 11, and will include a presentation of the proposals and a wider discussion about the plans.
The proposals include creating more on-street dining opportunities for the hospitality sector.
Footpath widening, new street furniture and greater pedestrianisation are also included in the plans.
There is also a proposal to make traffic on Ferryquay Street one-way.
Next week's event will be chaired by Jim Roddy, chief executive of the City Centre Initiative, and will include a presentation on the Covid Recovery and Revitalisation Programme by Tony Monaghan, regeneration manager at the local council.
Paul McNaught, from the North West Development Office, will speak on behalf of funders the Department for Communities while there will be an overview of the Street Life Plan by architect Chris Upson.
Festival and events manager from Derry City and Strabane District Council, Jacqueline Whoriskey, will be provide an update of the forthcoming ‘Inside Out’ Aanimation programme.
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Brian Tierney, urged local businesses to sign up for the event.
"Council are currently in the process of drawing up a number of potential interventions that could be implemented in both Derry City and Strabane town centres to assist with Covid recovery and revitalisation," he said.
"The proposals are designed to assist the wider recovery effort to attract people back into our town/city centres when it is safe to do so, to increase footfall and assist in supporting and sustaining local businesses.
"As part of this process, council has commissioned urban designers to prepare high-level concept designs which illustrate how certain streets, including Bishop Street, the Diamond and Waterloo Street and Castle Street in Strabane might look and function.
"We will also look at further proposed plans for Waterloo Place, Queens Quay and Police Court Street.”
Concluding, Mayor Tierney said: "This event s an opportunity to learn more about those plans and to contribute to the wider discussion about how businesses can work together o drive the recovery forward.”