Milestone on road to Foyleand Ebrington co-location

The planning office in Orchard House has now received an application for the major schools project. It was submitted on August 30.

The submission comes just over a year after Foyle Governor Robin Young told parents and pupils at the school’s 2012 annual prize-giving that he expected to be on site in the new school by Autumn 2015.

Now Belfast-based architects, Isherwood and Ellis, have formally submitted a development application on behalf of Foyle College and the Western Education and Library Board (WELB).

And subsequent to that submission at the end of August, the local planners wrote to the architects advising that an Environmental Statement would not be required for the school build.

As the schools are to be built on a former military installation, however, the developers have submitted an outline remedial strategy, which was compiled by WYG Environmental Ltd.

The consultancy was instructed by the Department of Education (DE) to complete a land contamination outline remedial strategy for the site.

This is standard practice for former military barracks and a similar process was followed across the river at Fort George.

Last year Universities Minister Dr Stephen Farry suggested Magee College would be able to move into Foyle’s cityside premises by 2016.

But Mr Young indicated the school was more optimistic and expected the move to take place a year earlier.