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Newry, Mourne and Down District Council is set to launch a public consultation this week on improving its performance amid public concerns over its planning approvals and leisure facilities.
The Council’s proposed Performance Improvement Plan 2024-25 will also look at three other areas including climate change, dog fouling and local economy.
The strategy, policy and resources committee will be provided with a report on Thursday (April 18) to approve the consultation and its time-frame.
It reads: “Councils are required to consult and engage a range of stakeholders, including citizens, businesses and partner organisations on the performance improvement objectives.
“The proposed six week consultation programme will run from 19 April to 31 May 2024.
“Consultation feedback will inform the final objectives, which will form part of the Performance Improvement Plan 2024-25.
“An overview of the overall approach to develop and publish the plan by 30 June 2024.”
In March, the local authority took the decision to close Newry swimming pool for six months across the school summer holidays during a confidential council meeting. The swimming pool area of Newry Leisure Centre has been closed since late February due to an issue with the hydraulic system of its moving floor.
Further areas of poor performance were highlighted at the NMDDC audit committee in February when the most up to date performance report showed an increase of 513 weeks in the average processing time of major planning applications and 28.6 weeks for local applications.
Staffing issues within the planning department were highlighted as a contributing factor to the slow processing times.
Details of how to take part in the consultation are due to be released by NMDDC in the coming days.
