LATEST: Pump Street: Owners' application for listed building consent being considered by Planning officials

October 9, 2025 - 17:40pm

LATEST: Pump Street: Derry City and Strabane District Council has received a submission from the applicant for Listed Building Consent (LBC) which will be considered by Planning officials as a priority with a view to making a determination on the application at the earliest convenience.

In the North, LBC is a specific planning control required for any work on a building of special architectural or historic interest that affects its character. 

It is a separate application from standard planning permission and applies to internal and external alterations, extensions, and demolition. The consent is granted by the local council after consultation with the Department for Communities' Historic Environment Division (HED).

A Council spokesperson told The Derry News it had been "working tirelessly since Sunday through positive engagement with the owner and agent of the premises at Pump Street as well as relevant stakeholders, to agree a way forward that balances both the conservation of built heritage and health and safety concerns".

"Council has received a submission from the applicant for listed building consent, which will be considered by Planning officials as a priority with a view to making a determination on the application at the earliest convenience," added the spokesperson.

"As the building is part of a row of listed buildings, any resolution requires careful consideration of the obligation to protect this important part of our built heritage.

"Derry City and Strabane District Council is fully committed to resolving the situation by working with the premises owners, their agent, and relevant statutory agencies to offer advice and support.

"Public health and safety remain our main concern, while also working to protect our city’s important built heritage, communicating with local business representatives and other key city centre stakeholders to keep them informed. Any further updates in relation to this matter will be provided when information is available."

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October 9, 2025 - 12:00pm

A Conservation Accreditation Register for Engineers (CARE) structural engineer with “extensive knowledge of listed buildings” has been appointed to advise Derry City and Strabane District Council following the partial collapse of the former Convent of Mercy building in Pump Street.

The “structural collapse” of the Grade B1 listed building took place in the early hours of Sunday morning. It resulted in the street being cordoned off, causing disruption for local residents and businesses.

On Wednesday afternoon, A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council told the Derry News it was “continuing to proactively engage with the owners of the premises on Pump Street with a view to agreeing a way forward and further updates will be provided when information is available”.

Briefing members of Council’s Governance and Strategic Planning committee on the incident at its Tuesday afternoon meeting, chief executive John Kelpie said Council had “not received an application from the building’s owners for consent to demolish the building”.

He also revealed four adults and five children, including a baby, had been “displaced from their accommodation” as a result of the structural collapse.

“In less than an hour, [Council] had a rest centre opened in Bishop Street community center. We provided shelter for the impacted people. We also provided food and some basic essentials. We did that up until late Sunday morning when support was then provided by the Western Health and Social Care Trust,” added Mr Kelpie.

The displaced Pump Street residents were subsequently provided with temporary accommodation by the Housing Executive.
John Kelpie also outlined Council’s engagement with the owners of the building.

“On Sunday, council officers organised our Building Control officers to be on site. They agreed and worked with the owners to put in place temporary hoarding, with public safety being at the forefront of our minds,” he said.

“Since then, we have been in continuous and ongoing engagement with the building owner and with a whole range of statutory agencies, including our own teams - Planning, Building Control, Environment, and our communications teams, and also with the Historic Environment Division (HED) [Department for Communities] in particular,” added Mr Kelpie.

The HED is responsible for managing, protecting, and promoting the North’s historic environment, which includes all physical remains of past human activity.

“The latest meeting was this morning (Tuesday) - a multi-agency meeting which included the owners. The entire situation was discussed. The owner has secured the services of their own structural engineer who has an opinion on the matter,” continued Mr Kelpie.

“Council has moved quickly to appoint a CARE structural engineer - one with extensive knowledge of listed buildings, bearing in mind this is a Grade B1 listed building. That engineer is currently assessing the situation.

“At the meeting this morning, the building owner and his agent promised documentation in relation to health and safety, in relation to any potential asbestos that may be on site, and potential options for possible part or limited or in total demolition for us to assess.

“Once we receive this information, we will assess it. We will also be asking the structural engineer appointed on behalf of Council to assess it and we will continue to liaise with the Historic Environment Division,” he said.

Grade B1 signifies the building is of special interest to the local area and is subject to strict planning controls to ensure its character and integrity are preserved for the future.

Former Convent of Mercy in Pump Street which partially collapsed on Sunday morning.

Mr Kelpie added: “Clearly there is currently a balance between health and safety obligations. The owner has to balance these obligations between health and safety and the obligations under legislation to protect listed buildings,” he added.

“Council has engaged this afternoon [Tuesday] with impacted businesses in Pump Street and we will try to do that further. We want to be able to communicate with those businesses what is happening, what we know of the situation, what action has been taken, and try to keep them apprised of the situation.

“Our objective is to reach an agreed position on the way forward and next steps urgently and quickly, with the safety of the public paramount but also our obligations to limit, if possible, any further loss to our built heritage, and obviously also to ensure any interruption to the trading conditions in the street is minimized,” said Mr Kelpie.

Following the chief executive’s briefing, Governance and Strategic Planning committee members agreed to reconvene Council’s ‘Austins Taskforce’ and to engage with the Inner City Trust, which aims to regenerate Derry through “physical, social and economic means” and has restored buildings including the Bishop’s Gate Hotel.

Council established its ‘Austin’s Taskforce’ in 2022 to find a solution for the vacant former Austin’s department store building in Derry city centre.

The Taskforce brought stakeholders together to work towards the building’s restoration. In March 2025, when the Inner City Trust secured ownership of the building with a £1.2 million grant from the Department for Communities.

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Speaking to the BBC Mark Patterson Show about the future of the former Convent of Mercy building on Wednesday afternoon, Helen Quigley, the Inner City Trust’s strategic projects officer said: “I really hope we are working towards a solution which won’t end up with the building being knocked down.

“I assume that in conversation about partial demolition, the owner is going to have to replace like for like. We [Inner City Trust] are seriously interested in developing a solution for that street but today, all of the agencies that are sitting around are charged with the responsibility of finding a solution.”

Pump Street remained cordoned off on Wednesday in what a spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council described as the “interests of health and safety”.

There was online speculation the former Convent of Mercy was due to be demolished on Wednesday morning. Businesses in the street were also informed there would be no electricity. However, although there was heavy plant and personnel on site from 5:00am, no demolition work had commenced as The Derry News went to print.

The Derry News has contacted the owners of the former Convent of Mercy building for comment, as well as the Department for Communities' Historic Environment Division, and the Foyle Civic Trust.