By Niamh McGovern
A DRAWN out discussion on the redevelopment plans for Fermanagh Lakeland Forum saw councillors butt heads at a recent meeting of the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.
The Forum has been cause of much conflict within council, with some members expressing ‘severe reservations’ about the project on a regular basis.
At the beginning of December an investment meeting to discuss the Forum was delayed and is delayed still, as project managers proceed with a line-by-line review of the 170-page tender assessment.
The Chief Executive, Alison McCullagh, moved to update council members on the reason for the hold up on the project managers report, noting contractor absences during the process, with a fully comprehensive report promised to members in due course.
Initiating the discussion on Fermanagh Lakeland Forum, was UUP councillor Robert Irvine who claimed, while the party were not opposed to the development, there were ‘severe reservations’ on the impact it would have on rate payers in the district.
“I for one have severe reservations and serious questions to ask,” he said.
“I’m led to believe there are certain major things that have had to be re-looked at and my question would be, why were they not looked at before?”
Sheamus Greene, Erne East councillor, remarked: “There are people out there suggesting that certain private companies want leisure facilities privatised in the county and that they seem to be aided and abetted in their pursuit of this.
“I for one don’t want to provide anything that is a second class facility to Fermanagh.
“We have seen it often enough through government where we have been treated as second class citizens,” he added.
“For once we are coming with a state of the art facility for the residents of Fermanagh and I believe it’s outrageous that a certain party is misreading the room when it comes to this.”
Councillor Maguire backed the sentiments of Cllr Greene, stating his disbelief at the negativity surrounding the project.
“I find it almost incredulous that an investment of £50 million plus to a state-of the-art, forward-looking leisure centre in the town of Enniskillen is something to be negative about,” he said.
“I cannot believe some of the councillors, who are fully aware of the process to date, and the steps that are taken for the forum to discuss the redevelopment of the forum in Enniskillen.”
Voicing opposition to current re-development plans was UUP councillor Mark Ovens, who remarked on the ‘significant concern’ locally with regards to council’s trajectory, highlighting the 20-year loan and subsequent debt.
“There is significant concern on how much the forum will cost,” he affirmed.
“I look at what is being produced, I look at how much this council is going to be indebted from a 20 year bank loan and I consider it severe,” he said.
“I suspect if we were to go out to ordinary ratepayer on the ground out there and tell them that we are borrowing that many millions of pounds for the next 20 years and this is the bank loan repayments, and this is the interest, I would be quite confident that a significant number of rate payers in Fermanagh and Omagh would be quite concerned about that.”
Firmly addressing ‘half baked sound bites’ made by council members, Chief Executive, Alison McCullagh, pictured below, said, “A number of inaccurate statements have been made this evening regarding financial matters.
“I think it is important again that I say that any recommendation that comes to the council of any level of expenditure is based on evidence and affordability.
“It is completely inaccurate to suggest firstly, that officers would bring any recommendation to you that we would consider inappropriate,” she stressed.
“I have specific responsibilities as chief financial officer so I certainly would not allow a report of that nature to come before you.
“What is also disingenuous to suggest is that you can undertake capital works without borrowing. That is how this works.”
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