A portion of the car park at the Ardhowen Theatre may be disposed of for the installation of a pressure gauge as part of the £250 million Gas to the West project.
The company behind a major project to bring gas to parts of Fermanagh and Tyrone has proposed taking over a corner plot of land at the venue comprising of 225 square metres.
If the proposal which has been been approved by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council goes ahead it would result in the loss of three or four car parking spaces, with Land Property Services assessing how much compensation the Council should receive. 
Part of the land at Castle Park in Lisnaskea has also been identified as part of the route for the project with the Council approving, in principle, the use of the land.
It will be, according to Council documents, subject to agreement on proposed works, associated accommodation works and payment of compensation for land disturbance. 
Councillors have been informed that the developer, SGN Natural Gas Limited, is now in a position to undertake exploratory ground works to assess the suitability of the lands and this will require the Council to enter into an Evaluation and Option Agreement. 
If the lands are deemed suitable for the scheme, the legal agreement will also provide for the necessary easement to undertake the works. 
Proposed compensation will be assessed by Land and Property Services and accommodation works will be agreed in due course. 
It comes as Alison McCullagh, the Director of Regeneration and Planning, told last week’s Council meeting that the project had been delayed by SGN Natural Gas Limited due to “unforeseen issues.” Work was due to begin in July, that date was then moved to September. 
“They expect to be issuing a revise programme of works,” said Ms. McCullagh. 
The postponement in commencing construction works have resulted in a delay in the discharge of certain planning conditions. 
In correspondence from SGN Natural Gas Limited the Council were told that that the contractor has commenced mobilisation and was due to have resources on the ground at the end of last month. 
When the programmes have been updated and roadworks agreed with Transport NI the company will provide the Council with an updated programme of works. 
The overall target for completion of the inter town gas network to connect the towns to gas remains the end of 2018. 
The energy infrastructure project will include a 78km high pressure cross country pipeline between Portadown and Fivemiletown and a 107km intermediate pipeline to serve Cookstown, Magherafelt, Coalisland, Omagh, Enniskillen and Derrylin. 
Gas mains, services and meters will be delivered to 40,000 customers over the next 40 years.
Construction will involve crossing 85 roads (including the M1), 215 watercourses including Upper Lough Erne and 364 farm enterprises covering almost one million hectares.