Published: Thursday, 19th November, 2009 9:00am

Uncertainty over council mergers

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Work continues towards the amalgamation of Fermanagh and Omagh Councils this week in spite of warnings from the Stormont Minister in charge of Council reform that plans to reduce Council numbers could collapse.

It has been reported that in a leaked letter from Environment Minister Edwin Poots, whose department is overseeing the refining of 26 Councils down to 11, that time is running out to reach agreement. He warned that failure to agree new Council boundaries could mean that he may not get necessary legislation through by the end of this year. This could mean an early Council election for the present Council structure.

In spite of uncertainty emanating from the seat of power, locally work goes on. This week, Mrs. Kim McLaughlin, from Newtownstewart, took up post as Transition Project Manager to ensure that there is an effective new Council in place for the Fermanagh and Omagh areas in May 2011. She will divide her time between Omagh and Enniskillen and will be located at the Council Offices in Omagh and the Townhall in Enniskillen on a rotational basis.

Chief Executive of Fermanagh District Council, Mr. Rodney Connor, commented: "We will continue to work towards the re-organisation to 2011 until we are advised differently," he said.

Earlier in the week, Secretary of State, Mr. Shaun Woodward moved to calm fears that the Council plan could founder. "I'm optimistic and also I'm realistic. I think people in Northern Ireland have travelled a long way. Whilst there may be a degree of raising issues to the point of a challenge, nonetheless I think what Northern Ireland consistently shows is that the politicians are able to meet these challenges. I'm confident they'll be able to do so on this issue as well."

Minister Poots has denied political bias behind his warning about the scuppering of the whole reform programme, that has cost £5.5 million so far. He personally wants to see a change for the Lisburn boundary, incorporating Dunmurry into Belfast rather than Lisburn. He said his motives were not because the change could ensure Belfast does not become a majority nationalist city but due to strong local opposition which he says was not heard by the Boundary Commission.

Local MLAs expressed their concerns for staff working at Enniskillen Townhall amid this eleventh hour uncertainty.

Mr, Tommy Gallagher, SDLP said: "Over the last five years, staff have been through a very uncertain time about the future, whether they will have jobs, whether they are going to be relocated and where they are going to be relocated". Councillors have been "left up in the air again". "It is pretty shabby treatment," he said.

"I was surprised given two things: firstly the amount of work that has gone into this by the Councils themselves, those who have been on the strategic leadership board and different political panels for years and worked very hard together with officials from local government and departments. Secondly, given there has been a huge amount of money already spent on the RPA exercise I am hoping that they stick to the plan of having the new Councils in place for 2011. Possibly it is some internal DUP politics behind this. I do not see any logic otherwise.

"This is the form of the two parties (DUP and Sinn Fein). They only work on trade-offs. That is beginning to end up with disastrous consequences if you look at the 11-plus, then the new policy for the Education and Skills authority".

He expressed surprise that two weeks after Mr. Poots had responded to his question about the Council plans with the response: "I am confident that local government reform will be delivered in May 2011", that he was now warning of possible collapse.

As his party had voted against the 11- Council model in favour of 15 Councils, Mr. Tom Elliott, UUP, said: "I would not be sorry if it collapsed".

"The difficulty is the significant amount of money spent on it. It has been an absolute waste of money. They have changed the situation so often. A PriceWaterhouseCooper report had a number of new suggestions that were not even talked about - a business management organisation to look after administration and quotations for all Councils and a single waste management organisation to look after waste management for all Councils. If you take those two roles out, what have you got left? It is very limited," he said.

Asked if the uncertainty is part of a trade-off situation between the two parties, he said: "That is part of it. There is a wee bit of playing politics. It is dangerous. It is very difficult for the ordinary general public to accept going through all of this and then going to collapse it. I can see the public getting pretty fed up with it and rightly so".

"I would assume (Council) staff feel very, very uncertain. They are very concerned about what the future holds for them --what will happen when the new Councils take over -- will they be kept on and if they are kept on, what conditions do they have to work under?

"There is a big issue for councillors. Some are planning to stay on until 2011 then retire and now there is a talk of election next year. Do they stay on or run for re-election or retire now? It is a wee bit reflective of the entire executive right now. It is very hard to plan for the future in those circumstances. And if they were involved in the voluntary transition committees, all that work is lost and it is very difficult in the Fermanagh/Omagh one anyway. There is so much waste," he said.