A potential legal challenge has been lodged against a new £27m Transport Hub which was recently approved for Derry, it has emerged.
Planning permission was issued for Translink’s new facility at the old Waterside train station at a recent meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Planning Committee, which heard from those opposed to and in favour of the project, which will now see the Victorian era listed building brought back into use.
The meeting had been told that 41 letters of objection and a petition containing 2,900 signatures had been lodged against the proposals.
However, despite the objections, councillors voted in favour of issuing an approval for the new development.
During the meeting, the council’s Lead Legal Services Officer, Philip Kingston, told the meeting he had been made aware that an application had been made to the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), in relation to the application.
He added that the application was a ‘call-in’, which is a procedure which allows contentious decisions to be reconsidered if 15 per cent of councillors believe it was not properly reached or would adversely affect a section of the community.
This could in turn lead to a legal opinion being sought on the matter.
After clarity was sought on the matter from the SDLP’s John Boyle, Mr Kingston said that it would not affect councillors being able to discuss and decide on the matter at the meeting.
In statement issued to the Derry News, a spokesperson for the DfI confirmed that it had ‘received a request on the April 11 to call in Translink's application for a Transport Hub at the old Waterside train station in Derry’.
“This request is currently being considered,” the spokesperson added.
ABOVE - An image of how the new Transport Hub will look.
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