Sinn Féin Assembly member Martina Anderson has revealed a £600 million investment with potential to create 3,000 jobs is being planned for Derry.

Ms Anderson has confirmed that she has been working with the international investors behind the project for the past three years and is hopeful that it is now close to fruition.

"The developer – a company called the Orana Group – are planning two major developments, one at Crescent Link and one in Bridgend," she said.

"This is what they see as gateway developments because they are on the two main arterial routes into the city.

"This is a major international developer who is involved in a number of other developments in Larne, Inver, Strabane and Omagh among others.

"They envisage mixed-use facilities at the sites in Derry incorporating commerce, retail, technology and community facilities. They have already signed a contract with Sainsbury’s Supermarket for the Crescent Link site while negotiations are at an advanced stage with a number of other potential tenants. The developers have already purchased £50m worth of land at Crescent Link and substantial deposits have been paid for various sites at Bridgend. In total, they have already spent around £150m on the Derry project and expect to invest around £600 million in the North West, including a £200 million development in Strabane."

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The Foyle MLA continued: "This is a huge scheme and one on which I have been working with the developer for the past three years. I am delighted that we are now at the stage where a number of planning applications will be submitted in the next few weeks. This is not pie in the sky stuff. A huge amount of money has already been invested to secure the sites and more is to follow. Contracts with major tenants have been agreed and others are in the advanced stage of negotiation.

"This is a massive vote of confidence in Derry and the North West and just the kind of news that we need in the current economic situation. The developers have been hugely impressed by the young, highly-skilled population we have in this region while the infrastructure developments such as Project Kelvin and the £1 billion investment being delivered by Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy were other key factors in persuading them to invest here."

(NS/GK)