Mid and East Antrim Council’s civic assets ‘fully covered’ after Glenarm insurance pay-out failure

In response to a question tabled at last month’s meeting by Coast Road DUP Councillor Andrew Clarke, he was advised that “all current assets are fully insured and since December 2020, inter-departmental procedures have been put in place to ensure new assets are added to the insurance list and any sales/disposals are removed timeously”.

The response to Cllr Clarke’s query indicated that the former fish factory land/derelict buildings was “added to the council’s insurance” on December 3, 2020.

A fire blamed on vandals at the derelict building at New Road broke out on November 29, 2020. The borough council bought the building in November 2019.

Other council assets added on December 3, 2020 was land at The Diamond, Ahoghill; Gracehill Pathway; land at Farm Lodge and land at Cairncastle War Memorial. Added the following day were four portable buildings at Tully Waste Transfer Station.

Forty acres of land at Lisnafillion Lane were added on December 10, 2020.

Carnlough Boathouse which has been refurbished at a cost of £160k was added on December 16, 2021 as well as new pontoons at Glenarm Marina costing £250k.

The new Kells Centenary Pavilion was listed on April 16, 2021, new storage sheds at Ballymena Showgrounds on April 21, 2021; Sandy Bay Centenary Pavilion in Larne on May 28, 2021 and town centre “parklet” seating on April 20, 2022.

The Sandy Bay Centenary Pavilion opened at Tower Road, Larne, at a cost of £1.7m in June 2021.

The issue was queried by Cllr Clarke after the council was left out of pocket when a blaze gutted the former fish factory premises at Glenarm seafront.

The authority failed to get a pay-out when officers lodged a claim with the authority’s insurance company, the company claimed that an exemption applied to the policy and “would not agree to cover the works”.

Members were told that the council’s insurers required a complete list of all council assets, and at the time, the derelict council-owned former fish factory premises were not specifically listed.

Meanwhile, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has said that its focus remains to “strike a sustainable rate” for the borough.

In a report to the August meeting, councillors were told that the authority’s gross annual budget is almost £72.5m.

Seventy-two per cent of council income is funded by domestic and non-domestic rates amounting to £52.26m. Almost £29.8m is raised through domestic rates and £22.5 by non-domestic.

During the 2021/22 year, the council reduced borrowing by almost £6m to £54.7m. There is a general fund of £4.4m, councillors have been told.