Is St Angelo another big white elephant?

Editorial Department • Published 11 Mar 2010 09:00 0 Comments

Share this

Dear Sir, For the past number of weeks we have been drip-fed information as to Fermanagh District Council's expenditure plans for St. Angelo Airport. If memory serves me correctly about nine years ago the Council spent somewhere in the region of £650,000 to resurface the runway. A short time later the airport was closed with runway lights ripped-up etc. Approximately a year after that we heard that St. Angelo was to be leased to a private consortium. Yet again we read in your newspaper of £2m being spent on another 'state of the art' hanger to service aircraft to add to the already existing Sloan's site as well as the other hangers.

This week we read of a further extension of the runway costing £200,000 to purchase lands plus a further £75,000 interest holding lease on further lands. As well as these planned purchases further plans to provide a sea taxi service. We hear reports of future job creation, hopefully but not guaranteed, for local people at this 'new' mega site. We hear of multi-millionaire Sir Peter Rigby's ambitious plan to turn St Angelo into the hub of the county, but at whose expense.

Four weeks ago we read of the set-up of aeronautical engineering classes at South West College which will take many years to develop suitably qualified engineers to fulfil the role at St. Angelo. I have not even mentioned the ratepayers funding toward annual upkeep of the runway and buildings on behalf of all the various leasee.

So how much has St. Angelo cost the tax payer since year 2000 and how much can we expect to pay in the future? I, as many ratepayers, am curious:

1. Did the Council know in advance of spending this £650,000 on resurfacing that they intended to close the airport a year later?

2. Was the resurfacing job, continued despite planned closure, used as an incentive for a private consortium to take over the airport?

3. How much ratepayer's money has the Council spent since year 2000 including the resurfacing of the runway, maintenance of buildings and building of new hangers etc?

4. What have been the Councils 'Return on Investment' since 2000 regarding this project as I sure they have been collecting rental on a yearly basis?

5. What is the present number of highly skill jobs created for local people within St Angelo site and further afield, since the Council leased the Airport? (In fact any jobs for locals)

6. What is the Council's planned expenditure over the next five to ten years including the runway extension?

7. Have approaches been made to individuals/businesses to assist in financing the development of the site as it is appears to be in the interest of the private sector to progress Sir Peter's plan?

8. What is the basis for claims that Fermanagh is to become the new 'French Riviera' of Northern Ireland's tourist attraction? What market research for past and future concerning tourism via St Angelo has been produced and published?

9.Has the Council prepared a Business Plan for this new future of St Angelo taking all factors into consideration including estimates as to future employment for 'local' people; financial benefits with a return on investment to the Council, for County Fermanagh, for Northern Ireland and furthermore the expenditure to the ratepayer?

10. In reality, Sir Peter is a businessman from outside Co. Fermanagh. So is it not in his interest to increase the airport runway to facilitate large jets to come to his 'mega' new servicing hanger rather than facilitate the new wave of holiday-makers to the County?

I have no doubt that some of these facts and figures are buried somewhere within the archives of Public Accounts of Fermanagh District Council Offices but I believe they should be published openly for public viewing. With an election looming; MLAs/Councillors will jump on any good news political bandwagon with pictures in the paper and a great story to tell the public. To me the Councils approach appears to been adhoc; a big white elephant syndrome with no politicians having the courage to say 'Lets seriously think this one through before we act or speak'.

Yes, its true, we must invest to accumulate, but reading all of the Impartial Reporters articles over the last four weeks on St Angelo's expansion, it appears that the ratepayers will invest and the private sector will accumulate. The ratepayers in Fermanagh have a right to know what they have already paid for and will be paying in the future and for whose benefit. May I recommend that Fermanagh District Council publish on their web-site a full account of expenditure and incomes since year 2000 as well as their present-day marketing research and their future business plans for St Angelo? After all Fermanagh ratepayers are continually footing the bill to facilitate the expansion of businesses within the private sector at St Angelo. We are paying to benefit businesses and individuals who have more £'s than most, who avail of the expensive activity of personal flying which is something the rest of us can only dream about.

INTEGRITY BEFORE POWER

This letter appeared in Impartial Reporter 11 Mar 10

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Opinion archives.