Council officers to investigate recent procedure to gauge Irish signage interest in Derry’s Creggan Heights

Derry City and Strabane District Council members have asked that officers investigate the recent procedure to gauge interest in Irish signage at Derry’s Creggan Heights, which failed to meet the consent threshold.

During February’s Environment and Regeneration Committee meeting members approved Irish/English signage at five Derry streets – Burnside Manor, Ernest Street, Eskaheen View, Old Mill Court, and Pinetrees – which were subject to a recent plebiscite and met council’s Dual Language and Street Naming Policy’s consent threshold of 15 percent.

Members were also informed that Creggan Heights did not meet the threshold, with 35 eligible occupiers (14 percent) of a potential 242 voting in favour of dual signage.

Independent councillor Gary Donnelly said that after reading the officer’s report, he had contacted seven households in Creggan Heights and only one received correspondence from council.

He asked what procedure council could take to “rectify this, so people are given the opportunity to contribute”.

Sinn Féin councillor Emma McGinley proposed approving the dual signage at the five successful streets and Creggan Heights “can be looked at”, while UUP alderman Derek Hussey said he had previously received claims from constituents who didn’t know any surveys were taking place.

Alderman Hussey asked: “Does that mean that, retrospectively, a precedent has been set where we can request that previous determinations can be re-examined?”

Director of Environment and Regeneration, Karen Phillips, said officers would investigate the issue and inform members of the findings.

She concluded: “What I’m suggesting is that we speak to the officers responsible for undertaking this process, to find out what actually happened; where there any issues, was this carried out in the normal way, did we follow the normal process.

“Today is the first I have heard that there was any suggested issue so I need to speak to officers, to endure that the process was undertaken in the normal manner and there weren’t any issues, and we will update members accordingly.”