COUNCILLORS have backed a new economic regeneration plan for Derry.
The Strategic Growth Plan outlines the creation of more than 15,000 jobs in the north west over the next 15 years.
Derry City and Strabane District Council’s blueprint for economic regeneration was backed by councillors at a meeting on Tuesday.
Rachelle Craig from the council said the plan was both “long term” and “exciting.”
She said: “We have been working on this since the new council was formed in 2015.
“After a huge amount of consultation, engagement and co-design, we are really delighted to get to this stage, to produce this plan to improve the quality of life here.”
The strategy plan’s central aim is to create 15,100 jobs in the north west by 2032.
It also outlines the need to raise the average wage in the district to £25K: increase the student number at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus to 9,400 with the help of a graduate entry medical school and have 10,000 more people living and working in the region.
The plan highlights the expansion of Magee and improvements to the road infrastructure, including the A5 to Dublin, A6 to Belfast and A2 Buncrana Road as key to a wider economic regeneration that would see the unemployment rate drop to 2.6%.
In September 2017, the unemployment rate in the council area was 4.9% – the highest of any council area in Northern Ireland.
It is estimated the Strategic Growth Plan will need over £3bn to successfully deliver on its ambition by 2032.
The plan details that £2bn would come from central and local government.
Derry City and Strabane District Council also said it was currently pursuing a Growth Deal (or City Deal) for the city.
