1 Comment
The accuracy of information in a Council statement issued to national and local media regarding the site selection process for the proposed new council offices, behind Newry Cathedral, has been called into question after the local government body failed to provide supporting evidence after its public claims were challenged.
With the cost to ratepayers of the council’s proposed new offices soaring from £7m to build in September 2019 to an estimated £18m today, an increase of £11m or 257% (and that does not include fit-out and other costs which could potentially take the project to £25m+) Downpatrick Alliance councillor Cadogen Enright, asked Newry, Mourne and Down District Council management had it considered purchasing the former Lidl site at Bagnall’s Castle/Newry & Mourne Museum as a cheaper and better value for money option with utilities - electricity, water, sewerage - already in place and its own car park.
The Lidl site came onto the market in 2023 with an asking price of £2m.
The Irish News, the Newry Reporter and the Down Recorder all reported on Cllr Enright’s concerns for spiralling costs and whether the council had and was considering other cheaper options, including the Lidl site.
In response to the media, a Council statement advised, “As part of the development phase of the NCCR (Newry City Centre Regeneration) Programme, a comprehensive site selection exercise commenced in 2018 to consider all the potential sites within the Newry City core for the location of the new Civic Hub.
“This site assessment process considered a total of 33 public and privately owned sites, including the Lidl site. This exercise identified the Abbey Way site as the preferred option and the decision was taken by Council to progress the Civic Hub at this location.”
The problem with the Council statement is that the Lidl site was not on the market in 2018 and the Council’s own documented timeline makes no reference to the former supermarket site and confirms there were just 23 sites listed and not 33.
Timeline
2016
Newry.ie has had sight of Council documentation, the paper trail that sets out the process leading to the selection of Abbey Way as the proposed site to build its new offices.
It shows that in early 2016, the Council appointed consultants Deloitte to search for/review suitable sites for the Council’s Newry City Centre regeneration needs. A Deloitte report in August 2016 - 'Newry City Centre Investment Strategy’ - listed 23 sites - provided to it by the Council. That list included neither Lidl nor the eventual selected Abbey Way site.
By December, 2016, another report, this time from Gray Design, had reduced the 23 sites to 4: Northern Area of Albert Basin, John Mitchell (Health Centre), St Clare’s (Primary School) and a ‘site adjacent to Cathedral’ (Abbey Way).
The Report recommended the St Clare’s site as suitable for council needs.
A second Gray Design report in February 2017, again recommended the St Clare’s Primary School site. Both Gray reports stated Abbey Way was ‘suitable with restrictions’ that included the removal of public parking and the proximity of the Cathedral, but the site was not recommended by Gray Design.
2017 – Abbey Way
The Strategy Policy and Resources Committee Meeting on March 16, 2017, included an update from the Strategic Projects Working Group (SPWG) and a “Progress Report on Newry Civic Centre”.
The report was delivered by the then Council Chief Executive Liam Hannaway who was the lead on the NCCR projects.
Mr Hannaway said that “two sites have been identified for the new Civic Centre: Abbey Way (Council ownership) and St Clare’s Convent Site” while there was a possible third site, the Translink depot at Upper Edward Street.
However, by the time of the public launch of the NCCR projects in the Canal Court Hotel in November 2017, three sites were on display - the Ross Thompson/Sean Hollywood site beside Newry Town Hall for the Theatre/Conference Centre and the Abbey Way site and Soho Car Park/Translink Bus Station for the Civic Hub.
2018 – No Lidl
In May 2018, Deloitte produced a further report, “Newry City Centre Regeneration Strategic Outline Business Case.”
Under ‘Site Development Potential’, it states: “The Council has a variety of sites within their and other public bodies ownership in the city that have been considered as part of this process. A due diligence exercise was undertaken of these sites based on their location, size and planning potential amongst other factors before drawing a shortlist. The sites currently being proposed as part of this exercise have been selected given their central location and ability to accommodate the proposed uses (See Appendix 5).”
However, the thing about Appendix 5, it was not new. It was in fact the same map/list of the same 23 sites from the August 2016 Deloitte report. And there was still no mention of Lidl.
At the June 7, 2018 Full Council meeting, a ‘Newry City Centre Regeneration Strategic Outline Business Case’ presentation was made to councillors.
The presentation provided no reference to the Civic Hub proposed location site and there is no other mention in the scrutiny committee (SP&R) minutes during the rest of 2018 regarding site updates.
Curiously, in September 2018, Mr Hannaway wrote to the Diocese of Dromore regarding the Council’s ‘preferred’ Civic Hub site at the ‘rear of the City Cathedral’.
Can’t answer – won’t answer
When exactly in 2018 did the comprehensive site selection exercise ‘to consider all the potential sites within the Newry City core for the location of the new Civic Hub’, including the Lidl site, take place?
Newry.ie asked the Council that question, and we also wanted to know what committee was shown the results of the 2018 exercise and when exactly did councillors select the Abbey Way site after the exercise had concluded?
With 23 potential sites listed in August 2016 and the same list presented again in May 2018, where were the other considered sites to bring the total to 33?
True to form, the Council didn’t answer the questions: “Newry, Mourne and Down District Council can confirm it has nothing further to add to its previous statement. The Newry City Centre Regeneration Programme is managed through the Council’s internal governance structures, with regular reports presented and approvals obtained through the relevant Council Committee, all meeting records are available online.”
Newry.ie also raised the fact that the paper trail of the due process followed by the Council, including CEO Liam Hannaway, contradicted its claims.
The Council was given a second opportunity to provide evidence to show Lidl was included in the 2018 selection exercise which covered 33 sites.
Not for the first time on this project, having previously admitted to having no evidence to support a claim it had maintained for three years that building council offices beside the Cathedral would provide an economic boost to the city centre - a claim not supported by its own consultants Deloitte - the council again failed to answer in another disregard to openness, transparency and accountability: “Newry, Mourne and Down District Council can confirm it has nothing further to add to its previous statement.”
