A Newport Councillor has challenged the way £17,000 of potential investment for his ward was “diverted” to fund projects in other areas.
Cllr Chris Whitehouse, who represents Newport West Ward, has asked council officers to investigate how the money – which had been expected to be used to improve facilities at the Victoria Recreation Ground and Pavilion – was in fact used for improvements to the Church Litten playground in the centre of Newport.
The £17,000 was paid by developers of 60 housing units in a mix of 2 and 3 bedroom houses in Newport West Ward. It was specifically identified in the Report to the Planning Committee that agreed the application as being a contribution of £17,000 towards providing enhanced children’s play area provision at an agreed existing off-site location because there was not a suitable space on the new development to permit children’s outdoor play provision.
Speaking this weekend, Cllr Whitehouse said:
“In their written report to the Planning Committee, officers argued that because no children’s play area could be provided on the development site it was agreed that the developer should provide funding for such a play area “in the local area” and it was noted that “there is a programme of enhancement works in respect of Victoria Recreation Ground which would be financially aided by the proposed offer should consent be granted””.
Cllr Whitehouse continued:
“Subsequently officers of the Council decided to spend the money on the Church Litten development which is in no way local to the development when it comes to the young children who were the intended beneficiaries of this funding.”
The councillor has referred the matter to the Council’s Managing Director, Dave Burbage, and its Monitoring Officer, Davina Fiore, arguing that the way this decision was handled has gone down very badly with the local community, and suggesting that processes and procedures be changed in future so that officers cannot unilaterally make decisions to shift funding from one project to another without reference to the local ward members.
Cllr Whitehouse added:
“The current administration has decided that Cabinet Members will no longer make such delegated decisions on their own. It seems simply bonkers that officers who answer to those Cabinet Members can divert funding in this way from the projects for which it was expected to be used to other pet schemes of their own.”
The councillor, who raised the issue at the Full Council Meeting on 16th July, has asked that the matter be looked into by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Ian Stephens, not least because there is now a separate funding pot of nearly £250,000 affecting the same area of Newport which he is determined will not be “siphoned off” for projects elsewhere on the Island.
Whitehouse concluded by saying:
“The future of the Victoria Recreation Ground and Pavilion in Newport are in dire jeopardy due to the policy of the current Independent administration to cease funding voluntary groups who run council facilities. It is quite wrong that funds from which that important local facility could benefit are being diverted to other projects on the Island in a way which lacks openness, transparency and accountability.
“Cllr Stephens took my representations seriously and responded constructively, but since then they have been referred to Cllr Jonathan Bacon who prefers to score cheap, party political points rather than look into a matter that risks bringing the Council into disrepute.”
