Councils must 'start talking'

Mr Dallat called the failure to set a date by Environment Minister Edwin Poots a "shambles" and urged Limavady and Coleraine councils to work together so that the fall out from the Reform of Public Administration disaster is minimised for ratepayers.

Mr Dallat said: "For six years the general public have been mislead by a dysfunctional assembly executive who allowed sectarianism to overrule the significant savings and improvements that would have arisen from the rationalisation of council services."

"At the end of the day the Minister responsible for Local Government Edwin Poots pulled the plug and in the process, millions of pounds of public money have been squandered and the opportunity to transform local government has been lost."

"The minister is now promising consultation in September but given his track record of turning everything he touches into dust there seems little point in waiting until then."

The assembly member has asked the Assembly's Environment Committee to initiate work on how the 26 existing councils can maximise the interests of the businesses and ratepayers they represent. Mr Dallat says collaboration between councils is "vital" and that process "must begin immediately".

He added: "In next year's council elections the SDLP will be putting forward a very strong team of candidates to take on the work the current minister has failed to do."

Mr Dallat concluded: "In a sense we must pick up the pieces and put together plans which will put local government back centre stage and free it from the shackles of suspension which it has existed under through the wasteful days of so-called transition which never happened."