T23-070CAP Acorn Farm Project Contractors PQQ Application

Acorn Farm is a walled brownfield site located on a vacant plot of land within St Columb’s Park off St. Columb’s Road opposite the former Ebrington Barracks site in Derry/ Londonderry. Acorn Farm is approximately 0.

874 hectares in area. The site is in a predominately residential and commercial area and access to the site can be gained from St Columb’s Road (South). The site is bounded by St.

Columb’s Road to south and by St. Columb’s Park on all other sides. The site was formerly used as accommodation for the RUC and a helicopter pad serving the barracks.

Ebrington Barracks was closed in 2003. Site clearance and ground levelling work was completed in 2022 as part of site enabling works. The Council has completed works to remove vegetation, hardstandings, concrete bases, steps, retaining walls and redundant underground services across the site and the ground flattened to an even gradient.

Although, the council cannot rule out the possibility that some buried infrastructure might have been missed during this pre-commencement site clearance contract. Trees remain along the southern boundary along with the boundary walls, manholes along with northern edge and piles of crushed hardcore and compost. The overall aim of the Acorn Farm project is to transform a former MOD derelict site into a growing space as a centre of Permaculture excellence in the Northwest City Region.

The Acorn Project will facilitate the development of new food growing technologies and to deliver a capital project which is an exemplar as a climate smart net zero/nearly zero carbon project, incorporating the use of circular economy principles, sustainable energy and energy/resource efficient technologies. Derry City and Strabane District Council (DCSDC) has developed a Climate Change Adaptation Plan (2020) and a Climate Change Emergency Pledge (2020) outlining the Council's climate action commitments, including a shift to net zero greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilience across the city and district by 2045. The ambition for the Acorn Farm site including the buildings, external works and landscape is to achieve climate resilience and whole life net zero emissions or nearly net zero emissions.

The project is for the provision of a community enterprise to provide a unique urban growing space within the City. Please refer to CfT documents for further information.