The Chancellor formally invited a bid in a move welcomed by Derry City and Strabane District Council.
Over the past year the local authority and its partners have done a lot of preparatory work on the business case for a deal. Chief executive John Kelpie has said: “We have developed a robust, evidence-based Statement of Intent for a city deal based on the currently adopted city and district’s strategic growth plan.”
That plan highlighted the development of skills and education with a key focus on the expansion of the Magee Campus of the Ulster University and the integrated development of the North West Regional College. Also proposed were the development of existing and proposed innovation centres for medicine, cognitive analytics and advanced manufacturing as well as the delivery of new road, rail and port infrastructure schemes alongside urban regeneration and tourism projects.