Mrs Judith Walker gave an overview of the Village Heritage Committee's proposed tourism project to the Recreation Club members at their AGM on 24 April 08.  This was well received by those present, as the Recreation Club will be used as a Visitors Centre which will create a welcome revenue stream for the Club through the sale of refreshments and merchandise, crafts etc.

Tenders, as feared after such a lapse of time and consequent deterioration of the Mill buildings to be used for the Workspace project, came in at about £300,000 over budget.  With deadlines hanging over us, all the stops were pulled out, and with adjustments to the Bill of Quantities, the Government Depts and Strabane District Council have managed to close the gap so that the project can proceed immediately, once the successful contractor has been formally appointed.

SMBPT, as part of the funding received for the CRISP Workspace Units Scheme, is spending £100,000 on Environmental Improvements in Sion Mills village and also has circulated forms (thanks to the help of the Community Association in distributing them) to the old Mill cottages and houses through which people can apply for a share of £10,000 to paint the fronts of their houses as part of a Spruce Up scheme.  Strabane Dist Council are administering the £100,000 spend funded by DSD.  Some of the things we have decided to spend it on are:

• Removing tree stumps and replanting mature trees
• Paving around Rec Club and War Memorial
• Repairs to Rec Club steps (listed B1)
• Repairs to listed walls on west side of main road
• Repairs to Ricardo tomb (listed B+)
• Fencing round Community Centre
• Landscaping waste land north of new all-weather play area behind Meadow Park

Manor Architects of Moneymore have completed the Tendering process to appoint a Contractor to build the Workspace Units in the old Maintenance Block at the north end of Herdmans Mill.  A Select List has been drawn up and we await a decision to be made by  the Architects and the Dept of Social Development, who with IFI and DETI are the major funders and are also Project Managing the development.  Funding is tight as, due to reasons beyond the Trust's control, the process to get this project to fruition has been lengthy enough to see major deterioration of the buildings, so costs have risen substantially.  But if all now goes ahead as planned the Units should be completed early in 2009.

The Council's HEART project (Heritage, Environment, Arts & Rural Tourism) is also to start shortly and some of the things they are implementing in the village are:

• A lifesize bronze statue of a spinner with her spinning frame and a flax plant, to be sited at the top of the Mill Lane
• New signage at village entry points and direction signs to attractions such as the river walks
• Tarmaccing the river walks (already done)
• New bus shelters
• New planters
• New benches in Church Square
• New benches at river walks
• Tree survey along main road in centre of village - action where necessary
• Improve bus parking in front of C of I (already done)
• A village clock in centre of village

The Village Heritage Committee are pulling out all the stops to get the necessary facilities in place for tourists to visit Sion Mills as soon as possible.  In partnership with the Recreation Club it is planned to use the Club as a Visitors Centre during the day which will not only help to bring economic revival to the village, but will give the Club a lifeline to help overcome financial difficulties.  In due course we hope to be able to train some Tour Guides and run courses on Health & Safety for catering from home, as we want as many people as possible to benefit financially from meeting the needs of the tourists.  Local crafts will be most welcome so that they are available for sale.   Progress towards this goal will appear regularly in this column.  The Heritage Committee meets again this Wednesday to keep up the momentum of their programme under the dynamic leadership of the Chairman, Mrs Judith Walker.

The Exhibition of old Photographs of Sion and its people, held in late January was so successful and drew in so many viewers, that we had to open for an extra day on the Sunday.  £1,000 was raised in donations and the sale of photographs, which, after deduction of expenses, went towards the repair fund of the Church of the Good Shepherd.  There have been many requests since to run it again, and for longer, which we will certainly do in due course.  We were delighted by the "buzz" of interest it stirred up in the village and further afield.

A Meeting, facilitated by Clare Mullen of Strabane District Council Community Support, was held in Sion Mills Recreation Club yesterday evening, 24th September, at which representatives of most of the formally constituted groups in the village signed up to the Partnership Agreement for the new Sion Mills Community Forum.  This is to be an umbrella group which will make joint decisions and instigate relevant action for the common good and benefit of the Sion Mills community.  All groups are welcome to join. 

The groups represented on the Forum to date are:  Sion Mills Community Association; Sion Mills Recreation Club; Sion Mills Primary School; Sion Mills Buildings Preservation Trust; Sion Mills Neighbourhood Watch; Sion Mills Angling Club; Sion Mills Swifts Football Club; Sion Mills Scouts; Herdmans Ltd; Sion Mills Bowling Club; Sion Mills Presbyterian Youth Club

Mr Andy Patton was elected Chairman with Mrs Deirdre Amor as Vice Chairman.

Mrs Mary McCrea offered to take the Minutes of the next meeting at which a Secretary will hopefully be elected.

The next Meeting will be held in the Community Centre on Thurs 11 October at 7.30 pm and talks will be given by representatives of Stakeholder Development and the Health Board.

Mrs Arlene Foster, MLA, Minister for the Environment, visited Sion Mills on Thursday afternoon, 20th September 2007, at the invitation of Sion Mills BPT.  The visit was hosted by Herdmans Holdings Ltd and the Minister was accompanied by Mr Michael Coulter, Director of Built Heritage in the Environment & Heritage Service NI.  Mr James Herdman, Chairman and Mr Neville Orr, Managing Director, of Herdmans, gave the Minister a tour of the Mill site, near the end of which they were joined by Trustees and staff of Sion Mills Buildings Preservation Trust and the Chairman of Strabane District Council, Mr Gerard Foley, and 9 Councillors, with the Chief Executive, Mr Philip Faithfull and Ms Geraldine Stafford, Economic Development Officer.  All present inspected the site of the proposed new Workspace Units and the space newly opened up by the demolition of the "Green Shed", and the Minister was shown the turbine house for the hydro-electric scheme, which is helping the government meet its "green energy" targets.  After a cup of tea for all in Herdmans' Offices, the Minister was shown the Mill and village archives in the Trust's Office before driving up to inspect Sion House Stables which are to be imminently compulsorily purchased - a first for Northern Ireland, and in the nick of time.

This project was completed on schedule before the end of August and has opened up an impressively large space immediately in front of the main two storey block, which was the Forge downstairs and the Carpenter's and Paint Shop above. 

This website was launched officially in Strabane District Council Offices on Tuesday, 12th June at 1230, by kind permission of the Council Chairman, Councillor Gerard Foley.   Also announced at the event was a grant of £40,000 to Sion Mills BPT to enable the Workspace Units to be built in the next few months.  Mr Ian Kidd of the Dept of Enterprise Trade and Investment's European Building Sustainable Prosperity programme, who have partnered this funding, was present.  The grant will be used to kick-start the Project by enabling car parking through some demolition (of unlisted buildings) and providing cobbles and paving to meet the high standards required for external works to such an important listed building.