Committee of the Centre Visits The Maze / Long Kesh Regeneration Site

The Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee of the Centre will visit the Maze / Long Kesh regeneration site on Wednesday 13 June 2007. Members will be briefed by senior officials from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on the proposals for regeneration at the site and about timing for major decisions in relation to the development of the site.

Chairperson, Mr Danny Kennedy, said “ Decisions on the regeneration of the site will be made in the near future by the First Minister and deputy First Minister. The Ministers will need to appraise the Committee of the Centre of these decisions as part of our scrutiny role in the Assembly. For our part, we are going to the site to see for ourselves the scale of the land which was made available through the reinvestment and reform package and where the component parts of the Maze / Long Kesh project are proposed in relation to transport infrastructure.

“As I have said before - we hope to work constructively with the First Minister and deputy First Minister to develop and deliver our shared goal of improving life for everyone in the community – and this project has the potential to contribute to that goal.

“We will expect to see an economic appraisal on the project which demonstrates that the cost to the Northern Ireland public is minimised and we will remain open minded about the merits of the overall development until we receive more information”.