Derry projects funded at Strabane's expense

The proposal to axe £30,000 from the annual funding of Strabane’s Alley Theatre was supported by some local councillors. 

It followed approval of £250,000 for the 2023 Foyle Maritime Festival. 

The Alley Theatre cut was mooted in advance of today’s special Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Striking the Rate meeting, however, Derry News understands the cut was voted down. 

Speaking before this afternoon’s Rate meeting, one Strabane councillor also expressed concern at the “disparity” in funding between Derry City and Strabane.

Referring back to the amalgamation of Derry City Council and Strabane District Council in 2015, Cllr Paul Gallagher (Independent) said Strabane had effectively taken on Derry’s debt.

Cllr Gallagher said: “Before the merger, Strabane District Council did very little, compared to Derry City Council. Derry City Council borrowed millions of pounds and built the Foyle Arena and carried out public realms schemes. Basically, Strabane went into the merger with very few facilities and took on the debt of Derry City Council. We are constantly paying that back. 

“We took on the airport, which is costing us approximately four million pounds per year. It was imposed on us. 

“A cursory glance at the local media over the last 10 years reveals Strabane has been promised a major public realm scheme, costing  seven million pounds, to do up the whole of Strabane Town, from Asda to the Head of the Town area. It is still sitting there. 

“We were promised the Riverine project, which is a town park. It has now been shelved as well. We were in our third round of successfully applying for funding, nine million euro. We were told time and time again it was happening, yet it has been shelved again,” said Cllr Gallagher.

Cllr Galagher said Strabane was also promised a new footbridge at the lower side of the town, which would connect the bus station and Strabane Town.

Currently, anyone getting a bus into Strabane has to get a taxi to get into the town.

Cllr Gallagher said: “We were promised a footbridge there. It has not been delivered. We have been promised a new leisure centre again and again and again.

“We applied to the Levelling Up fund recently but the project was not even looked at because ministers changed the criteria after we submitted our application. 

“Strabane just seems to get shafted time and time again and when they strike this rate today it will be no different. There will be a demonstrable imbalance between Strabane and Derry. 

“I will not be voting for the rate. I see this as implementing Tory policy. For Strabane people this is as bad if not worse than Margaret Thatcher’s infamous Poll Tax. People in Strabane are getting all of their services cut and they will be paying a Rate’s rise of twice as much as they paid last year. I will not be supporting that today,” said Cllr Gallagher. 

Cllr Gallagher said Strabane District had inherited “nothing but debt”. 

“Nothing has been delivered,” he said, “and we are paying far, far more.”

“Unbelievably it works out as a quadruple tax. I would argue Derry City and Strabane District Council spends more than ten million pounds of its annual spend duplicating services which the central government should be doing. 

“One is the Airport. We also fund Visit Derry to the tune of £460,000, which should be coming from central government, to encourage tourism locally. We also fund the Millennium Forum £400,000, which should be the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, and a Skills Department, which should be done by central government.

“Also, when the Rate is struck today, Derry City and Strabane District Council will have to collect £1.5 million off the ratepayers because the schools here will not pay what they are supposed to pay in Rates. 

“There was a re-evaluation of rates and some schools faced a rise so they appealed that decision. As a result Council will have to top the shortfall up and that comes £1.5 million pounds which central government should be paying into our rates bill but is not,” said Cllr Gallagher.

“Government is taxing us locally and through the region and will also tax us with regard to what it is supposed to be paying centrally.  That all contributes to our Rate’s bill, which comes to more than £10 million per year,” said Cllr Gallagher, who predicted the Rate rise of almost 8% would be voted through. 

He added: “Ironically, last year the SDLP voted against 3% yet this year’s rise is closer to 8%.

“Myself and Cllr Shaun Harkin (PBP) had a motion passed at Council that our officers would seek an emergency meeting with the British Secretary of State regarding duplication of services and what relief we could obtain from central government so we did not need to impose hardship on people here. 

“Council had a meeting on the issue with MLAs and MPs recently at which I challenged the MPs for ‘talking out of both sides of their mouths’ because their councillors were inevitably going to vote in favour of the Rates rise. 

“In Strabane, people are not going to be happy. We are going to see a cut in services including street cleaning and street planting and you can guarantee that areas on the periphery of the city are going to get this a whole lot harder than anywhere else,” said Cllr Gallagher.