Battle starts to save Lisburn Roads Service office

It is anticipated that the Lisburn office, which is based at Benson Street, will be amalgamated with the Castlereagh office and the 30 staff currently employed in the city will be moved - probably to Hydebank.

However, Lagan Valley MLA Paul Givan has said he is concerned jobs are being moved from the city and has questioned the efficiency of the proposal.

The Department has issued the proposals for consultation, but Mr Givan said:

"The Lisburn office has 17 members of staff based in Benson Street dealing with roads issues but it also has 13 staff in the street lighting division that could also be affected by any relocation. Staff who work in the Castlereagh area are already based in the Roads Service Eastern Division Headquarters at Hydebank and therefore there will be no impact to Castlereagh.

"I will be objecting to this proposal and will be seeking Council support at the next monthly meeting," continued Mr Givan.

"As public representatives we meet regularly with staff in the local office and on site across the Council area. This proposal would result in less accessibility and the travel costs for staff would increase due to the greater distance between the Divisional Headquarters and Lisburn Council area compared to the current location. It would also have a negative impact on the City centre due to spend during lunch breaks being lost."

A spokesperson for Roads Service confirmed: "A written Ministerial statement to the Assembly was made on July 7 stating that eight of Roads Service's smaller Section Offices would be combined into four new combined Section Offices, each covering two adjacent Council areas to manage budget pressures.

"It is the intention to combine the Lisburn and Castlereagh Sections. No decision has been made yet on where the new Section will be based but it is envisaged that the amalgamation will take place within the next six months.

"Such an arrangement already exists and works well in Roads Service's Ballymena and Larne Section Office and at its Ballymoney and Moyle Section Office and this will not result in any job losses or impact on the front line services provided."

However, Councillor Paul Stewart also expressed concern about the move. "Lisburn is now a city and needs its own Section Office to deal with the roads infrastructure in the City" he said.

"The Departments last year were looking to move more civil servants out of Belfast and this decision would see more moving into Belfast. If the Roads Service Management team decide to move the local section into Belfast, their decision would be outrageous and our party will endeavour to do our best to ensure that the Section Office remains in Lisburn City."