MATHEWS ANGRY AT COUNCIL PROBE DELAY
A YEAR-long wait for action on maladministration identified in a report by the Northern Ireland Ombudsman is "very unsatisfactory", a Larne councillor has complained.
On two occasions in recent weeks Islandmagee representative John Mathews has asked to hear details of how Larne Borough Council intends to commission an independent investigation into events that led to the damning report accepted with considerable embarrassment by the local authority last April.
The Ombudsman was extremely critical of the council’s handling of a 30 million regeneration plan for Glenarm. The council had no option but to admit that procedures implemented by the administration in choosing a preferred developer for the scheme three years ago were “seriously flawed”.
When he said in 2008 that there were “obvious questions over the propriety of the way some people have acted”, Cllr Mathews was assured that these would be addressed during the investigation.
Thirteen months later, it has emerged that the probe has not even begun and Cllr Mathews has received conflicting responses to his demands for information.
First he was informed in reply to a written question that the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) had been invited to begin a review of the flawed procedures, to be followed by an investigation into the culpability of individuals involved and a full report to be published by the council.
When minutes of the exchange were published, however, there was no mention of SOLACE, prompting Cllr Mathews to table the question again at the next available committee meeting.
This time the response indicated that the review has yet to begin and that SOLACE is one of a number of organisations which may be invited to tender for the exercise.
Council chief executive Geraldine McGahey confirmed the investigation had not commenced as a new masterplan for the Glenarm regeneration had only recently been agreed.
Cllr Mathews pressed for a timeframe for commencement and asked if the council had entered into any correspondence with the chief executives’ organisation. Mrs McGahey replied that a tender was being written and that SOLACE was “one organisation that may apply”.
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Weather for Larne
Monday 20 May 2013
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