SDLP POLITICIAN Dolores Kelly has called for the Assembly’s public accounts committee to investigate how a new online planning applications system is four years late and £7 million over budget.
The North’s Department of the Environment yesterday confirmed that her complaint about the proposed IT planning application system was correct but that when properly operational it would “streamline” services. Ms Kelly, who is the new chairwoman of the Assembly Environment Committee, said it was discovered that the original design proposals for the new method of making planning application did not fit the North’s planning system.
She said the information about the problem with the ePic project only came to light when former SDLP chairman of the committee, Patsy McGlone requested more details about the department’s overall spending in June. But for his probing, she said, “this multi-million pound overspend could well have been brushed under the carpet”.
“It has emerged the system will cost £12.7 million – £7 million more than originally estimated and will not be available until next summer, four years later than first intended,” said Ms Kelly.
“In the current economic climate this is an utter disgrace especially when charges for the planning service are set to rise. As the new chair of the environment committee I will be doing my utmost to discover who is responsible for this shambles,” she added. Ms Kelly said it was clear that the current DUP Environment Minister Edwin Poots or his DUP predecessors Sammy Wilson and Arlene Foster had questions to answer.
“It is somewhat ironic that three members of the DUP who pride themselves on driving efficiency in government have presided over this mess,” said Ms Kelly.
DUP environment spokesman Peter Weir said Ms Kelly’s criticism of the DUP was unwarranted as the scheme was “dreamt up” under British direct rule.
