Strabane Athletic Community Consultation

The Planning (Development Management) Regulations (NI) 2015

Major Development Pre-Application Notice

Planning Community Engagement

Proposed multi-sport indoor/outdoor facility (circa 45,000 sq ft) incorporating wellbeing centre, community/youth facilities, full size indoor 6G pitch, fitness suite, sports hall, conferencing, office accommodation, exhibition and events space.

Hello & welcome to the community consultation for Strabane Athletics proposed development.

This consultation period will run over 12 weeks from 8th July to 30th September 2022.

Persons wishing to make comment to the applicant (Strabane Athletic) may do so easily using the comment boxes opposite. Any comment you make is treated in strict confidence and as anonymous.

Note that any comments made are to the applicant (Strabane Athletic) & not the council, or as the case may be; The Department.

An opportunity to make representation to the council, or as the case may be; The Department will be provided at a later stage.

PURPOSE OF THIS CONSULTATION

The purpose of this consultation is to inform the design process and planning applications which will be made to Derry & Strabane Borough Council, or as the case may be; The Department.

People wishing to make comment on this application may do so easily via this webpage & further information on the project is available below.

If you wish to discuss the project or require more information you can also contact Manor Architects directly on 028 867 483 67.

Indicative image of how the development may look.

LOCATION OF THE SITE

The aerial map above reflects the context of the proposal within the Town of Strabane.

The proposed site benefits from possible access to the main bypass, as well as close proximity to local schools and residential developments.

The land is currently zoned as residential.

ABOUT STRABANE ATHLETIC

Strabane Athletic Football Club is a Northern Irish, intermediate football club based in Strabane, County Tyrone, playing in the Northern Ireland Intermediate League.

The club was elevated to intermediate standard, when it joined the Intermediate League for the 2012–13 season.

The club participate in the NI Intermediate, the NW Saturday Morning, the D&D Youth and the NI Boys National Leagues and all their associated cups

They also participate in the Northern Ireland Intermediate League, the Derry & District Youth Leagues (at various age groups) and the North West Saturday Morning League and all their associated cups.

They also compete in the Foyle Cup at youth level.

Strabane Athletic are experiencing unprecedented demand for their services and thus seek to expand their facilities to diversify the provision of services to a broader range of the community in Strabane and the surrounding area.

ABOUT THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

• The creation and delivery of this facility will challenge views of what a sports centre can be, the value it can bring, the talent it can support and the variety of use classes it can deliver within the Derry & Strabane council area.
• The project and concept plan see the creation of a multifaceted sporting typology, the first of its kind in Ireland.
• It will see the creation of a conference, community and wellbeing hub with spectator areas, meeting spaces with changing and treatment rooms at ground level.
• It will provide a new era for sporting and youth talent development in the West of NI. Neighbouring education authority junior and secondary schools mean the location is advantageously located with potential connection to the ring road.
• It will see the first indoor full size 3G pitch in Ireland, with the ability to host keynote events
• All this will bring with it job creation and economic growth to an area with a historic lack of development investment.

Need for the Proposal

There is a need for a facility for sports, tourism and conferencing in the new district area.

• Inspire Sports is a premium team sports development tour company. Their aim is to deliver unique sports travel programmes including school and youth teams sports tours to enrich young peoples’ experiences and leave life-long memories. Inspire Sports has committed to bringing a minimum number of groups each year to the proposed facility once operational. Over the last 10 years Inspire Sports has taken over 70,000 aspiring players on sports training tours.
• Sports & Recreation Alliance (S&RA) is the umbrella body for sport and recreation in the UK and represents 320 members. Howard Wells MBE is a Board member of the Sports & Recreation Alliance and has committed to advertising the proposed facility widely to member sports organisations as a base for pre-season training and educational conferences.
• The Dublin and District Schoolboys League (DDSL) was founded in 1943 to provide a structured league system for all Dublin Football Clubs and for soccer clubs in the greater Dublin area. They have over 200 teams affiliated to the DDSL.
• The Northern Ireland School Boys Football Association (NISFA) promotes and encourages the development of schools’ football at various levels both nationally and internationally. Currently 19 district associations are affiliated to the Northern Ireland Schools’ Football Association. The association promotes competitions for schools at under 11, under 12. under 14, under 16 and under 18 as well as an inter-district competition. The Board of NISFA has agreed to support the facility, using it for accommodation for home, international and visiting teams and for hosting events eg AGM, Conferences etc.
• The Northern Ireland Boys Football Association (NIBFA) is Northern Ireland’s largest youth football group and currently caters for approximately 17,000 – 21,000 players. The NIBFA incorporates 9 member leagues and has over 1,063 affiliated teams in approximately 240 clubs throughout the Province. Given the large membership they regularly host meetings and events for members across the Province and this development would be conveniently located for them. The Board has agreed to advertise the proposed facility widely to its members.

For General Tourism

For tourists from UK, RoI and elsewhere there is a significant need for additional facility within this local.

For Conferencing

There are no conferencing facilities locally providing office accommodation and catering on-site which would make this a unique development for use by tourists, local and non-local businesses and the local community. The conferencing facilities will be flexible enough to be easily converted into a multi-purpose space, which would be available for hire and thus maximise usage. The flexible functionality of the facility and respect for the surroundings have been important aspects of the presentations and discussions.

Groups specifically will be actively targeted to the facility where they can benefit from convenient road access, ease of free onsite parking. The conferencing facilities will be available for hire for meetings, AGM’s, training, team building, networking events and residential sessions.

The facility will provide conferencing for up to 50 – 100 people, with 2 main adaptable spaces which can be sub divided into 4 smaller spaces to facilitate smaller Board meetings etc. and/ or break out rooms, depending on the nature of the booking requirements.

Community Conferencing

The conferencing / multi-function space will be available to hire by local community groups.

Consultation on the Proposed Facility

The client and the architect’s team have been involved with a number of public events to promote the proposed facility.

Discussions with various stakeholders, organisations, councillors and MLA s have occurred and negotiations on land agreements are ongoing.

Indicative image of how the development may look.

Indicative image of how the development may look.