The British National Lottery has assured cross-community activists in
Derry that no decision has been taken to abandon plans for a £
7 million Millennium footbridge across the Foyle despite reports to that effect in a British newspaper.
The Guardian reported that a number of prestigious British
Millennium projects, including the proposed footbridge linking the
Catholic and Protestant sides of Derry, have been dropped on the instructions of the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair.
It was reported that the British government was diverting £
1 billion of lottery money into health and education. As £
200 million of that £1 billion was earmarked for Millennium projects, several of these schemes would now have to be rejected.
However, Mr Colm Cavanagh, of the Waterside Development Trust, which is spearheading the proposal, yesterday received an assurance from the Millennium Commission that no final decision had been taken on the footbridge. "There is no truth in the allegation that the projects mentioned in the Guardian have been axed," Mr Michael
O'Connor, of the commission, informed Mr Cavanagh in a faxed letter.
Mr O'Connor warned, however, that "competition for grants has always been intense and we are still in discussion with the government about how our future plans might be affected by the creation of a new fund".
While it was likely a number of projects would be abandoned or modified because of the diversion of lottery money Mr Cavanagh said he was hopeful the project would go ahead. He said trust members held a "very positive meeting" with the Millennium Commission in London earlier this week.
If the application is successful the Millennium Commission will provide half the funding while the remainder will be raised by the trust from British government agencies and private and public support.
The footbridge is designed to span the Foyle from the Guildhall on the Catholic west bank of the city to the Protestant east bank close to the old railway station. The Waterside Development Trust has also asked Northern Ireland Railway to investigate whether it could relocate the new station closer to the footbridge to facilitate greater use of the proposed amenity.
Mr Cavanagh believed the cross-community nature of the project would help win the argument for funding. The footbridge idea was unanimously supported by Derry City Council. It emerged as the most popular suggestion from a community consultation of 30,000
households.
