Andrew Balfour, Local Democracy Reporter
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council says the estimated cost of the Altnahinch Dam Project and other PEACEPLUS projects for the borough have been “hugely underestimated”.
The PEACEPLUS Partnership has been in operation since June 2022 and has overseen the design, development and implementation of the £6.1million PEACEPLUS Local Action Plan, which was approved by 2023 and includes a capital budget for the development of five capital projects, including the Altnahinch Dam Project.
The Action Plan identified a £178,000 budget for the Altnahinch Dam Project, and members of June’s Leisure and Development Committee were asked to approve the next step in proposed works, working within the approved budget, that will include a new pathway extending to an exiting boardwalk and a bridge.
An officer said the council is attempting to identify funding opportunities to progress the project further to include the plans for a walkway and Dam Head sections of the path, but council currently has no additional funding.
“What I can say about the [five] projects is that they were hugely underestimated in terms of how much it would cost to bring them forward.” They said.
“I wouldn’t blame the peace plus partnership for their continuing support and wanting to see the projects being completed because they have trusted the information that was put in the Action Plan, [but] it was wildly underestimated in terms of the costs.
“What I have said, since I realised that they were hugely under budgeted, is that we have to communicate that PEACEPLUS was an enabler of these projects rather than [something] that was coming in to complete them, because it was very apparent to me from the start that it was never going to cut the mustard when it came to the budget.”
