Causeway Coast & Glens councillor's call to increase sport and community fund rejected

In December 2024, Council approved an annual Capital Grants Programme, with a £600,000 budget, to aid local sports and community organisations to develop new facilities or enhance existing ones.

Organisations can apply for awards of up to 80 percent of total capital costs, up to a maximum grant value of £120,000, and must match fund the remaining 20 percent.

Grant assessments undertaken earlier this year identified seven successful applicants including Bann Rowing Club, St Brigid’s Cloughmills GAC, and St. Patrick’s Camogie Club, Dungiven, with a total grant request of £693,000.

During February’s Leisure and Development Committee meeting, members were told the applicants will each have a percentage reduction in their grant request to ensure the funding stays within the initial £600,000 budget.

Councillor Bateson said the grant was “pivotal” in enhancing community and sporting infrastructure across the borough, and proposed that council increase the funding.

“I don’t think pot is enough and I think the grant itself in terms of the criteria is far too restrictive,” he argued. “I believe that we need to be widening the pot and allow further clubs to access it.

“We can’t be telling groups that they will get £120,000 for successful applications, and then turning around and only giving them £80,000.

“We have the means to do this here and therefore should be doing it, so do we have the capability to deliver a much larger pot than the one which we’re delivering at the moment?”

A council officer said the decision was not made by staff and any increased budgets would have to be presented to council for agreement.

The officer explained that council agree the criteria and parameters for all grant programmes in November each year, the parameters for 2026/27 have already been agreed by full council, and the next available opportunity for members to change the parameters is November of 2026.

DUP alderman Aaron Callan said there were many organisations in his DEA and throughout the borough who “would love us to pour more money into capital grants”.

“We could more double this budget, triple it, and there would still be clubs banging our door looking for money,” he said.

“Each and every club that gets money, I’ve no doubt it will go a long way to help and improve facilities. But I do have grave concerns about, after we’ve set a budget, to then decide after the fact that we’re going to change all that, I think would be dangerous.

“So I would say that we should stick to the process we have and the budget we’ve agreed.”

Sinn Féin councillor Kathleen McGurk seconded councillor Bateson’s proposal and argued the maximum £120,000 grant allocation “wasn’t a lot of money” in the current economic climate.

“And I think that £93,000 in the overall scheme of things isn’t a significant overspend, for the benefit that this grant programme provides to the community as a whole,” she said.

Despite support from Sinn Féin representatives, members voted against councillor Bateson’s proposal.