New Ebrington proposals get planning approval

The newly approved plans include office and residential space

Plans for two major redevelopments at the Ebrington site in Londonderry have been approved by councillors in the city.

Permission was granted for commercial offices, a multi-storey car park, a new public square and 32 residential units at a meeting on Wednesday.

Separate plans for 40 apartments in two residential blocks at the site, as well as space for a mixed use office space, have also been approved.

SDLP councillor Sean Mooney, who chairs Derry City and Strabane District Council's planning committee, said the plans are transformative.

“This work will entirely transform the upper area of the site, and complement the extensive work that has already been carried out on the main Ebrington Square and surrounding buildings,” he said.

The 29-acre site operated as a military barracks until 2003

Ebrington is the largest regeneration site in Derry.

A former naval base that opened in 1841, it was known as HMS Sea Eagle during World War Two and was an important part of the North Atlantic Command.

The 29-acre site continued to operate as a military barracks until 2003 and was subsequently gifted to Derry by the Ministry of Defence.

Some concerts and large events have been held in Ebrington Square since the former parade ground was regenerated and opened to the public in 2012.

It has hosted some of the biggest music events ever held in Derry, including BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2013.

But there have previously been concerns about the site's development.

In 2018, work on a museum marking the city's maritime history was stalled.

The following year, plans for a multi-million-pound distillery and visitors' centre at the site were scrapped.

A new public space is also among the newly approved proposals

However, the council said in February of this year, that funding has now been secured to progress those museum plans, while last year a 93-room four star hotel opened at the site.

Earlier this month, a bar-restaurant opened in the former military barracks' canteen.

Councillor Mooney has said the approval of the latest proposals will “allow work to commence on the ground, as the final pieces of the jigsaw begin to fit into place at Ebrington”.