Plea to save deprived Limavady areas falls on deaf ears

An impassioned plea to preserve funding for the most deprived areas in Limavady and Coleraine fell on deaf ears this week.

Certain locations in Limavady - including Coolessan and Greystone - rank with the most deprived 10 per cent of areas anywhere in Northern Ireland.

A DUP councillor warned this week of dire consequences if neighbourhood renewal funding, which currently targets the most deprived 10 per cent of areas in Northern Ireland, is spread too thin.

Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey spoke, during a visit to Limavady yesterday afternoon, of the positive impact of neighbourhood renewal projects in the town over the past few years.

His comments follow the decision of the Causeway Coast and Glens Council, confirmed this week, to spread funding for neighbourhood renewal across the most deprived 20 per cent of areas rather than the most deprived 10 per cent of areas.

DUP Councillor George Duddy said extending the funding to cover 20 per cent would “dilute” the good work already going on for those at the “bottom of the social ladder” as the funding would be spread thin.

His pleas fell on deaf ears, however, when 16 councillors voted to stick with the original plan to spread the funding to a wider area, compared with 13 who voted in favour of reverting to 10 per cent.

Councillor Duddy said: “I know the committee passed that we go with the 20 per cent. I think if the 20 per cent is passed it will have a detrimental effect in the areas where it is actually working at the moment - both here and in Limavady.

“There are some 20 people employed full time and eight people employed part time. When you take some of the key statistics from 2013 into 2014 - we saw some 213 adults gaining accredited qualifications and many of those wouldn’t have accessed formal education outside of neighbourhood renewal in their local areas, in their community.

“1175 pupils benefitted from the project supporting the long term vision of neighbourhood renewal in terms of addressing generational issues, educational underachievement, unemployment and benefits dependency. 53 people were involved as volunteers - and the actual number could be much higher.

“You have over 3,000 people who took part in health initiatives. These were delivered in their local areas and many people benefitted who would not otherwise have had the opportunity.

651 people were involved in parenting programmes.