Council question 'financial viability' of £7m Harry Gregg project

A proposal to build a youth sports zone in County Derry has hit an obstacle after the local Council identified a number of concerns over its 'financial viability'.

In June 2021, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council awarded the Harry Gregg Legacy Foundation £15,000 to carry out a feasibility study for a proposed £7 million youth football project in Coleraine.

The project would see see the construction of an indoor sports dome at Ulster University, comprising a 4G pitch, four court hall, climbing wall and youth provision.

The concept is inspired by the On-side Youth Zone model operated across some English cities to offer highly subsidised services and meals to children and young people from marginalised communities.

A feasibility study was presented to the Council's Leisure and Development Committee in February 2022, where the Foundation requested further financial support to progress the project.

However, a Council critique of the study, although complimentary towards the model, raised concerns around a need for greater consultation with Ulster University, Coleraine FC and Sport NI.

It concluded that it was 'not possible to be conclusive' on the feasibility of the project and councillors at last week's Leisure and Development Committee were presented with three options.

They could provide no further support towards the project, provide no support until the Foundation addressed the issues raised, or provide £5,000 towards an outline business case that addressed them.

Cllr Adrian McQuillan immediately proposed that no money be given until the issues were addressed.

“This report doesn't make good reading here at all,” he said.

“To be fair to the Harry Gregg Foundation, we need to be going for option 2; to provide no further financial support until the key concerns are addressed.

“I'm sure they don't agree with this report, so we should give them an opportunity to put the options in, and then we look at it again.”

Cllr Russell Watton felt that the opportunity for the Borough was too great to miss, and proposed that £5,000 be granted to move to the outline business case.

“I had high hopes for it, and still do. It could be a big regional player in this whole area. I'd be tempted to propose we go for Option 3 for the sake of five grand,” he said.

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The East Derry politician said serving the public had been the 'pleasure' of his life.

“Get the outline business case and see where we go from there. I believe this could be a game-changer in this area.”

Coleraine councillor George Duddy requested more detail on the nature of the concerns, and a council official outlined them in some detail.

“The key issues are in relation to planned capital projects across Coleraine town and particularly with Coleraine Football Club and the proposals for the new leisure centre,” they said.

“We ultimately need to be sure that displacement doesn't occur and that any planned developments are not competing with each other. That would be a fundamental issue to address.

“The report indicates that only high level conversations have taken place with University of Ulster so the terms would need to be firmed up.

“The Sport NI consultation would also be key, given Sport NI's role in sports development and facility development and that wasn't concluded within the timeframe of the feasibility study.

“The other issues in terms of capital affordability were projected at a very high level, assuming government departments would come forward with the £7 million funding package.

“The final comment in relation to financial sustainability; the whole model is based on an on-site youth model that works in England.

“There are examples of good practice and it's conceptually a very sound model, but its application to this part of the world needs tested.

“The reliance on public sector grants, private sector donations and patrons' donations was acknowledged as being weak in the report.”

After a lengthy, unrelated discussion, a vote was taken on Cllr Watton's counter proposal, which was defeated.

The original proposal to provide no support until there was an indication the issues had been addressed, was passed on a vote of 11 for and three against.

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