Motion: Fermanagh Lakeland Forum

“That this Council recognises that the Fermanagh Lakeland Forum is a very important asset for the leisure and wellbeing of many local people and beyond; accepts that the current building requires substantial remedial works and that replacement in some form is likely to represent to better value for money; notes, however, that the proposed redevelopment is to a significantly larger and higher standard, including to very expensive Passivhaus specifications; notes that even after the £20m allocation from the Levelling Up Fund, the project is still going to cost Fermanagh and Omagh District Council several tens of millions of pounds more; notes that some of that cost is going to met through the depletion of capital reserves but, primarily, through very expensive 20 year borrowing on the external markets; recognises that the costs of all large capital projects have swelled in recent years; notes that local people and businesses have not yet been engaged in a fair or transparent manner in relation to even the indicative overall costs, and importantly the impact those costs are going to have toon every single household and business rates bill in the District for many years to come; notes that the preparation of the Full Business Case is drawing to a conclusion, and therefore, instead of the Council members being asked to take a decision immediately, that all decisions to date in relation to the Fermanagh Lakeland Forum project be temporarily rescinded so that the final investment decision can be deferred by a period of eight weeks in order to allow the full proposed expenditure to be explored and scrutinised, and importantly, for a period of genuine engagement to be held with local ratepayers.”