New 'welcome' to Derry City & Strabane District boundary signage expected
Derry City and Strabane District Council members have asked for updates on plans for new boundary signage along the borders of the city and district.
At December’s Governance and Strategic Planning Committee members received an update report on council’s Strategic Planning and Support Units Delivery Plan, which stated that plans for the installation of new Council boundary ‘welcome’ signage were currently 25 per cent complete.
SDLP councillor Rory Farrell noted that a section of the update entitled ‘Latest Status Update’ had been left blank.
“So could we get an update in exactly what’s happening with that?” he asked. “Because it is worthwhile. It’d be great to see new signage when we enter the council area, so any sort of update on that would be great.”
UUP alderman Derek Hussey said plans for new signage had been “sitting for quite some time” within council.
“So how close are we to having boundary signage?” he asked. “It’s quite disappointing when you go round Northern Ireland and you see boundary signage erected for other councils but not for ourselves.”
Council’s Chief Executive, John Kelpie, said the issue of signage was “only cleared relatively recently”, but assured members that officers would provide an update in the near-future.
He concluded: “We will provide an update and where that’s at in terms of implementation. Unfortunately I don’t have it for you today, but we will get that.”
The former Derry City Council and Strabane District Council were merged over a decade ago in 2015, following a process which saw the north’s 26 different Councils reduced from to just 11 so-called ‘super councils’. Along with the mergers, Council received new Planning powers.