Investigations are under way to establish the ownership of the War Memorial in Derry after concerns were raised over who has responsibility for the maintenance of the city centre monument.
It emerged in May of this year that Derry City and Strabane District Council were planning a £250,000 clean-up of the War Memorial in the run-up to the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
The move came after the DUP had raised concerns over the current state of the monument in The Diamond.
Those plans have now been shelved after the local council backed a proposal from Sinn Fein calling for a ‘moratorium’ on the proposed restoration project and suggested that a Working Group be established to consider how ratepayers’ money would be used with regard to war memorials within the district.
However, it has now emerged that council officers are now carrying out investigation to determine who owns the monument.
The matter was raised at the monthly meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council at which independent councillor Warren Robinson asked for an update on council’s efforts to stablish ownership of the memorial..
Cllr Robinson had previously raised the matter at a previous meeting of the council’s Environment and Regeneration Committee.
Responding, the council’s senior legal advisor, Lead Legal Services Officer, Philip Kingston, said the matter had been ‘clarified to some extent’ since the last meeting.
He told the meeting the monument had been located on lands occupied by the Old Town Hall, and following the reorganisation of the local council some of that land was ‘vested’ by government departments, including the Department of the Environment (DoE).
Mr Kingston added council officers were still ‘seeking clarification on that part’.
He confirmed that ‘council certainly do not hold the title deeds’ for the War Memorial.
A further update on the matter will be brought to a future meeting of the council’s Environment and Regeneration Committee.
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