Planning approval granted for new £70million factory at Northern Ireland business park

Members of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s planning committee have given the green light to full planning approval for a proposed industrial unit at lands within Invest NI Strabane Business Park at Melmount Road in Strabane.

Members of the committee met at the Chamber in the Derry Road Council offices in Strabane where details of a proposed industrial unit were outlined.

The units will comprise of a manufacturing area, training areas, meeting rooms, ancillary spaces, offices and a staff canteen as well as provisions for landscaping, car parking and other associated works.

Committee members attending the meeting were informed that the factory will be used to produce fire sprinkler pipework for the UK and European markets.

It was outlined that planning officials are satisfied that the proposal is an acceptable use at this location given the approval for industrial issues.

Members of the committee were informed that the application demonstrated that adequate measures will be put in place to mitigate potential impacts arising due to manufacturing noise, traffic implications and was in keeping with requirements in terms of natural heritage, residential amenity and environmental considerations including ground contamination, surface water run-off drainage and sewage.

A Council officer said consultations with governmental bodies, such as the Department for Infrastructure and NI Water, were concluded with no objections, and during a public consultation exercise there were no objections from the public.

The officer said Fab Plus, who already has a location at Strabane’s Orchard Road Estate, will provide long term sustainable economic benefit, as it has been in operation for 35 years and exports goods to the UK and Europe.

Planning approval was granted subject to several conditions.

A Fab Plus spokesperson said the new premises will ‘make a positive contribution to the local economy and deliver much-needed investment into the area’.

Welcoming the proposed development, planning committee chairperson Cllr Sean Mooney said this new factory would allow for the extension of business facilities at the Business Park in Strabane and was a welcome investment in the local area. He said he hoped the new factory would see the creation of new jobs for the town and help bring further investment into Strabane.

Sperrin Independent District Councillor Paul Gallagher said the new plant was ‘long-awaited’, as the Council had been ‘crying for years for this site to get occupied.’

Sperrin SDLP district councillor Jason Barr, added: “This is a great news story, especially for this business park. It has been lying empty now for quite a considerable amount of years, so it’s great that it’ll be utilised for the benefit of Strabane and create 50 local jobs.”