THE COUNCIL has spent almost £100,000 of rate payers’ money on condition surveys for just four of its buildings so far this year.
In an update to the February meeting of the Council’s policy and resources committee, covering the period ending December 31, an outline was included of capital spending by the Council so far this financial year.
This includes £1.22 million on the Omagh riverwalk development, £504,000 on the ‘Project Citizen’ refurbishment project at the Grange in Omagh, and £128,000 for the ongoing road name signage project across the district.
A total of £99,700 has been spent on condition surveys for the Lakeland Forum, Omagh Leisure Centre, the Strule Arts Centre, and the Marble Arch Caves.
As reported in last week’s Herald, the future of the Lakeland Forum in Enniskillen is currently being considered, and whether or not it will be refurbished or replaced with a new leisure centre.
As part of an ongoing public consultation on leisure facilities across the Council district, people are being asked for their views.
A number of public events are being held as part of the consultation, which closes on March 25, details of which can be found on the Council’s website. An online questionnaire is also available.
The financial update, which was given to councillors at the committee meeting last Wednesday, also gave details of the budgets for various Council departments. For the 2018/2019 financial year, which runs until April, the Council’s budget is just under £37 million.
Overall, waste and recycling has the largest budget of any department, with just over £8.7 million allocated for it for the year. Parks and open spaces came in second at £4.56 million, leisure recreation and sport has a budget of £2.85 million, arts and heritage is £2.56 million, operations and estates £2.39 million.
Just under £1.5 million was budgeted for corporate management, while £1.39 million was budgeted for tourism and economic development. It should be noted these are the amounts the Council budgeted for the year, and the actual spend may be either higher or lower.
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