Derry's Maritime Museum and Archive gets green light

Derry’s proposed Maritime Museum and Archive in Ebrington Square has been given the green light.

Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Planning Committee granted planning permission for the £13m development at a special meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

The museum, which received approval from Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd in December, will feature six galleries and archive material from Derry’s maritime history, including the surrender of German U-boats at the end of the Second World War. 

Funding for the museum was secured in February 2024 from sources including Tourism Northern Ireland and the National Lottery Heritage Fund; it is anticipated the museum will open to the public in autumn 2026. 

The Planning committee approved listed building consent for change of use of former military buildings, including alteration and extension, to provide a Maritime Museum and Archive, parking, landscaping and associated works.

The Maritime Museum application site is part of a former army barracks and parade ground with buildings of a similar period and architectural style surrounding three sides of an open square, which is now a civic space. 

A historic stone wall (Star Fort Wall) defines much of the boundary of the original Ebrington barracks; this is a Scheduled Monument. 

The application site is occupied by two detached Georgian buildings; one three-storey (no. 49) and one two-storey (No.45/46); both are Grade 2 listed and are currently vacant and in need of renovation. 

Councillors granted planning permission for the Maritime Museum on the basis that the proposed redevelopment scheme would secure the retention, upkeep and re-use of important listed buildings and would provide a positive contribution to the townscape of the surrounding area.

The report presented at the Planning Committee special meeting highlighted that the Maritime Museum development would also “provide a positive contribution to the townscape of the surrounding area as well as making a contribution to the overall redevelopment of the Ebrington site”.

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It added: “The proposed works must be begun not later than the expiration of five  years beginning with the date on which this consent is granted as required by Section 94 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. 

“Unless otherwise specified on the approved drawings, no surviving historic fabric, e.g. floor joists, structural timbers, solid masonry cross walls, chimney breasts and so on, shall be considered for removal until a detailed report has been submitted to and agreed in writing with the appropriate Planning Authority in consultation with HED (Historic Buildings). 

“Any request for removal of surviving historic fabric must be accompanied by an up-dated Condition Report - in the interests of the special architectural and historic qualities of the Listed Building.

“Notwithstanding the submitted details, the following elements of the approved scheme shall not be installed, implemented or carried out unless in accordance with further details on the exact location of plant/equipment, including service runs and risers, associated with the following which shall have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Council - mechanical services and electrical services.

“The works shall not be carried out unless in accordance with the details so approved - in the interests of the special architectural and historic qualities of the Listed Building. 

“Subject to the above condition, the development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved drawings.”