Roads depot move 'fiasco'
Julie Kenwell • Published 19 Jan 2012 13:00
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THE Department of Regional Development (DRD) has come under fire locally once again over the ongoing saga of the closure of Brookeborough's Roads Service depot.
In the latest twist to the tale, Erne East Councillor Sheamus Greene says he was astounded to learn the planned move from the site in Brookeborough to the Ballyvaden Depot had to be put on hold last Thursday when an issue arose surrounding the planned improvement to the sightline at the entrance to the Tyrone depot.
At the end of last year Minister Danny Kennedy announced his department would proceed with proposed plans to close the Fermanagh depot, despite a campaign being brought forward by Mr Greene and his Sinn Fein party colleagues.
At the time the Erne East Councillor had said the move would mean a substantial cost to tax payers, despite the Department's submission that the closure was part of it's "rationalisation of depots".
According to Mr Greene, however, although the Brookeborough yard was cleared last week, the Department were forced to do a U-turn and reinstate all equipment back again when the planning issue became apparent.
"The bungling DRD officials, overseen by Minister Kennedy had overlooked having the planning permission for the move in place," said Mr Greene, "The result of which meant that exactly one day later all equipment had to be returned to Brookeborough again, at a substantial loss of Tax Payers money! This entire fiasco has been caused by the bunglings of Minister Kennedy and his senior officials, who in their haste to close this Depot forgot to comply with planning regulations.
"Even more incredible is that the sticking point has to do with sight-lines at the Ballyvaden Depot in Tyrone," he added, "You may ask which department deals with sight-lines? Well, unbelievably it is DRD, Minister Kennedy's own department. So one section of his department it blocking another section of this department! The blind leading the blind springs to mind."
Stating that he had personally asked a senior DRD official about the sight-lines some months ago, Mr Greene said he was now calling on Minister Kennedy to cancel the closure and "stop wasting any more of our money".
"Spend it on the roads of this county, which God knows could do with the pothole epidemic being sorted out, instead of continuing with this farce," he suggested, "It would make a good comical farce for TV viewing, but no-one is laughing at the waste of public money and misguided judgements of senior officials."
A DRD Roads Service spokesman confirmed there would be a delay of "several weeks" before the transfer of staff from Brookeborough depot to Ballyvadden depot takes place.
"The transfer was planned to take place on January 11 and January 12, however an issue arose surrounding the planned improvement to the sightline at the entrance to the Ballyvadden depot and it was necessary to postpone the move until the issue could be resolved," said the spokesman, "The issue has now been resolved.
"The decision to close Brookeborough depot has been taken for sound business reasons. The concentration of resources in a single depot has operational benefits and will provide the opportunity to deliver further efficiencies. Roads Service can deliver services to the South East Fermanagh/South West Tyrone area from a single depot. Brookeborough depot is quite restricted and requires investment to bring it up to the standard of other depots whereas Ballyvadden depot is of sufficient size to accommodate the combined workforce and other resources."
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 19 Jan 12
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