Omagh: Strule campus to cost £60m over initial estimate

A landmark shared education campus on Omagh, County Tyrone, will cost almost £60m more than its initial estimate.

Only one of six planned schools has been built on the Strule Shared Education Campus despite work beginning in 2013.

Building the campus was initially estimated to cost £168.9m but that has now risen to £228m.

The increase was revealed by Education Minister Michelle McIlveen during education questions at Stormont.

The Strule campus is the biggest school building project in Northern Ireland but has faced a number of problems and delays.

The campus on the former Lisanelly Army base was originally due to open in 2020 but so far only Arvalee Special School has been completed.

Six schools would move on to the site and share facilities

The other five schools which eventually plan to move onto the site are Loreto Grammar School, Omagh High School, Sacred Heart College, Omagh Academy and Christian Brothers Grammar School.

That means about 4,000 pupils will eventually be educated at Strule.

However, work has yet to begin on those schools and the procurement process for building the campus was suspended in 2018.

'Increases in building and site work costs'

During questions Ms McIlveen told SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan that she "would still hope that the construction can complete in 2025".

"While it is overdue I'm confident that we're moving in the right direction," she said.

The Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) had previously said that the campus was likely to go over budget by £45m.

However, in response to a question from the Alliance Party MLA Chris Lyttle, the minister revealed that the cost had now risen £60m over its original budget.

The increase was revealed by Michelle McIlveen during education questions at Stormont on Monday

"In overall terms the estimated cost has risen from £169m in 2016 to £228m in 2021," she said.

"The 2016 figure did not include an allowance for inflation.

• Delayed Omagh schools project has already cost £45m

• Strule campus delayed 'until 2025 at the earliest'

"This increase is largely due to increases in building and site work costs and the potential impact of construction price inflation in future years."

The minister said that costs had also risen due to additional site preparation, roadworks and buildings.

She also said that a new invitation to tender for the work to build the five remaining schools was due before the end of 2021.