Council has £9m plan to develop Culmore landfill site
Derry City Council has revealed a masterplan that will see at least nine million pounds spent developing the former landfill site at Culmore.
Most of the money will be spent on making the site safe and extracting methane gas which will be used for electricity generation.
The works will also include landscaping and the development of a community and education building.
The site was last used for landfill four years ago.
The mayor of Derry, Councillor Colum Eastwood, welcomed the decision.
"It's a very major project," he said. "We have to ensure it's done safely and done properly."
He also pointed out that there is a large amount of methane gas at the site.
"What we are trying to do is to extract that gas and sell it back to the National Grid as electricity, which will save us money in the long term."
He said that the community facilities were much needed in an area which now has thousands of residents.
"It will provide play areas, a park area, sports facilities, and community buildings. It's going to be a massive project."
The plan will mean depositing a large amount of material on the site.
"We could probably do it in a year and a half but we need to be careful and there are people living in the area," Councillor Eastwood said.
"We will spread it out over three years so that the residents are happy with the project."