Planning permission has been obtained for the West End Community Centre to be built in the Windmill Road area of Enniskillen, but last year this was met with strong local opposition, with a petition against the community hall project garnering over 200 signatures.

Many of the residents within the west Enniskillen community are elderly and they expressed concern that the quiet area would become susceptible to a rise in petty crime. The people of the area are currently served by temporary accommodation situated on the Sligo Road, Enniskillen. This is leased from the council and has been extended for another year.

In a letter sent to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council on June 5 from DSD Western Area Manager Monica MacIntyre it was confirmed the funding application will not progress further.

“As you are aware your organisation submitted an application for Neighbourhood Renewal Capital Funding on 11 June 2014. To date our office has been unable to approve funding for this project as we have not had the available budget to do so.”

The letter stated “It is unlikely that this situation will change in this new financial year” and the application for funding “will not be progressing any further in this process and will be removed from our records.” It is recommended that the council pursue other available funding sources for the community centre.

The letter was brought to the regeneration and community committee meeting this month, with Enniskillen councillors Debbie Coyle (Sinn Fein) and Howard Thornton (UUP) expressing their extreme disappointment at the decision.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Coyle explained that when she was first elected in 2011 the project was one of those classed as a priority.

“The current West End Community Centre is an intergenerational, cross-community centre where old and young, from all sections of the community come together. It is used every day, allowing organisations to run different classes and events for local people, especially those living in the Windmill Heights, Coleshill and general Rossorry area. Due to growing numbers using the West End and the fact that they are limited in what they can offer due to lack of space, the facilities are fast becoming unsuitable.

“Therefore this new development was really needed and it provided hope for the users and wider community.”

She has asked the council to write to the DSD to get answers as to where the money for this project has gone and why the project has been dropped. She hopes that the last year’s community opposition to the housing of the centre on Windmill Road did not have a bearing on the department’s decision.

“I would like to think not. That shouldn’t have anything to do with it at all, it passed through planning permission so I would like to think that wouldn’t have any influence on it, but that’s why I’m asking the questions. What took it from being a priority project to one they’re not putting in at all now?”