Concern voiced over historic complex

The mill complex which has a Grade B+ listing, suffered a major fire last summer, and is currently being offered for sale on the open market on the instructions of the joint administrators.

A Northern Ireland bank is believed to be one of the major creditors.

The local heritage group is concerned that the site is burdened with such serious complexities that it may prove difficult to find a private sector buyer with the combination of financial resources and conservation interests necessary to restore fully such an internationally important, large scale, signature heritage site.

Graham Robinson, local resident and member of the Trust stated: “ While the Trust has a track record in accessing heritage grants and restoring buildings, we do not believe that entering into a competitive bidding process for a site with such major constraints is the best way of ensuring its conservation, restoration and reuse for the benefit of Sion Mills.”

Speaking on behalf of the group, Trust Member Natalie O’Doherty explained; “The main mill building lost all of its roof in the fire, and because of its listing any buyer is likely to be required by the statutory agencies to invest immediately many millions of pounds to bring the building back to a state where it is no longer at risk of further deterioration. In addition, use of the site is restricted at present because of contamination fears.”

The Trust has a direct interest in the Mill Complex because it already owns part of it on a 99 year leasehold. The old Maintenance Block was restored in 2008-09 with £1.5 million of public funding, and regenerated as handsome Workspace Units, but their use to date has been prevented by the as yet unresolved concerns of the local authorities about possible contamination of the wider site.

Celia Ferguson, who founded Sion Mills Building Preservation Trust in 1999, and is a Trustee, is confident the contamination issues can be dealt with.

She remarked “The Trust’s vision is to see the the Mills fully restored to become the centrepiece of a campaign to secure UNESCO World Heritage Site Status for this unique model linen village.

The Sion Mills Conservation Plan lays down the criteria for the future of the whole site and, while we would be happy to work within its constraints with a private sector investor, accessing grant aid only available to Building Preservation Trusts, any private partner would need to share our vision and to share any income generated”.