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A request for clarity around the reasons behind Newry, Mourne and Down District Council's decision not to apply for Peace Plus funding for the proposed Newry City park has been replied to by Council CEO Marie Ward.
While it seems to clearly state that lack of an active planning permission application would exclude the park project, the original allegation that funding had to be spent by 2027 given by a council official and MLA seems not to have been addressed. The Council boss's reply follows her comments at the September 4 council meeting in relation to written correspondence she had received on the matter from Councillors Savage and Finn.
In an unusual move the correspondence is on Item 4 of the Council's Strategy, Policy and Resources meeting next Thursday 14 September for "decision". The Council report entitled 'Newry City Park - Peace Plus Funding' recommends that "Council Officers continue to work with the Department to secure the DoF funding approval and work with all stakeholders and partners to deliver the project under the direction of the NCCR Programme Board."
The recommendation adds "Council Officers will continue to investigate potential funding sources for all projects within the Council Captial Plan and progress the development of projects to a stage where they are eligible for submission to the relevant fund."
Essentially what the decision is saying is that they plan to secure the £16.2m Department of Finance funding for Phase One of the Newry City Park but that they will not prioritise the park over any other capital project to enable it to be completed. Councillors will be asked to approve this recommendation at next weeks meeting.
The report was produced following a motion at the August full council meeting by Councillor David Lee-Surginor calling for a funding application to be made to Peace Plus to enable the completion of the project. This motion was kicked down the line to next weeks SP&R meeting which ensured that it wouldn't be heard until after the closing date of the fund in question and so guaranteeing that Peace Plus funding wouldn't be applied for.
Incorrect and Misleading
Newry and Armagh MLA Liz Kimmins had said on Facebook that the Peace funding funding "has to be spent by 2027" and hence the reason why that funding couldn't be applied for, but this is incorrect and misleading as the PeacePlus Programme Manual specifically states that the date spending for a project has to be completed is 31 December 2029, ( It's believed the 2027 date was indicated to the MLA by a Council officer).
The document states "The Programme end date for expenditure is 31 December 2029. Any expenditure incurred, invoiced, or defrayed after the project end date is ineligible. In addition to the overall eligibility period, it is not possible to claim invoices that are paid in advance for activities that are not finalised by the project end date."
The 2029 date is over two and a half years later than May 2027, the date Phase One of the Newry City Park is expected to be completed!
In her correspondence to all Councillors Marie Ward, Council CEO indicated that because Newry City Park didn't have a live planning application in progress that it wasn't possible for it to avail of the funding. Why a planning application isn't already passed six years after it was agreed to build the park in November 2017 is another question.
Ms Ward said "The Peace Plus Programme has a call document entitled Investment Area 1.4 Reimagining Communities which states the programme duration is 2021 to 2027 (see attachment 1). The application deadline is 7 September at 5pm and for ease of reference I have set out below the criteria that any application should meet.
SECTION 6
PROJECT ASSESSMENT 6.1 Pre-requisites to assessment. Due to the capital works nature all applicants must demonstrate the following pre-requisites before proceeding to assessment against the project selection criteria.
- Evidence that requisite consents and permission are in place or in process (process means it must be submitted to the relevant authority with a clear decision pathway), examples below;
- Planning approval, listing consent, impact on conservation area, environmentally sensitive areas approvals
- Evidence of fit within the Local Development Plan designations.
- Evidence that planning is not needed for certain developments (or parts of them) or falls with delegated limits, permitted development, etc
- Evidence of appropriate land title and or lease agreements being in place prior to Steering Committee.
- Have suitable underwriting methods should project costs overrun. The Lead Partner must be able to demonstrate sufficient cashflow to deliver the project during the lifetime of PEACEPLUS funding, taking account of claims processing times and the nature of significant financial claims being paid in arrears as well as the financial capacity to support the future running costs.
- At the time of the Letter of Offer and with the approval of the Steering Committee, a condition may be added stating a deadline by which time planning approval must be in place.
The project at this time does not satisfy all the prerequisites as set out above. Councillors will be aware that a planning application has not been submitted for the project at this stage."
In regards to the date that Peace Plus funding had to be spent by, the CEO did not clarify instead saying "The Peace Plus Programme has a call document entitled Investment Area 1.4 Reimagining Communities [sic Re-Imaging Communities] which states the programme duration is 2021 to 2027". It should be noted that 2027 is the Peace Plus programme duration and NOT the funding spend by date or project completion date both of which are in 2029.
Following last Mondays meeting Newry City Councillor Michael Savage said “There has been so much confusion around this issue and this needs clarified immediately. That is why both Cllr Finn and I wrote to the Chief Executive last week seeking answers and I welcome her commitment to give written clarity specifically on what criteria the Park does not meet ahead of the closing of the PeacePlus Fund on September 7th." Whether the Chief Executive's correspondence provides clarity or allays any confusion or not will be discussed at next Thursday's SP&R meeting.
Missing
Cllr Lee-Surginors motion currently isn't on next weeks SP&R agenda for discussion as was stated in reply to a Newry.ie media query to Council - “This matter is the subject of a Notice of Motion proposed by Cllr Lee Surginor in August. The motion was referred to Newry, Mourne and Down District Council’s Strategy, Policy and Resources committee and will be discussed at the September meeting.”
