North Coast council land saga should be subject to a police and Stormont investigation

The Northern Ireland Audit Ofice report into the handling of land deals by a north coast council uses diplomatic language, but is damning.

The report, led by local government auditor Colette Kane, refers to ‘perceived conflicts of interest’ and ‘behaviour falling short of standards.’ Also to the ‘unusual’ involvement in deals by one of the chief executive.

The lawfulness of two deals has been called into question.

The sale of land in Portstewart for just £1, without a proper valuation having been completed beforehand, to give a developer access to a proposed hotel development worth £20 million. And the disposal of land in Coleraine for just £5,000, despite challenges by both elected members and council officials before being pushed through anyway, in spite of legal advice warning explicitly of the need to follow rules.

At first sight, Jim Allister QC MLA seems right to say that the chief executive David Jackson and others should be sacked. At the very least, there needs to be a PSNI probe.

And as Ms Kane says, Stormont should examine its responsibilities for the council in light of the grave failures that have been identified and “intervene if necessary”.

Matters that pertain to planning, and planning decisions, are among the most important in any society because of the need for a well planned community, but also among the decisions that are most open to abuse, given the large sums of money that can be created if land gains planning approval.

In those circumstances there needs to be transparency in decision making, then use of that transparency (ie careful scrutiny of decisions) and also competent governance. Leaders and officials who fail to deliver those criteria are not fit to hold their posts. There were, around the time of the last financial boom, some grossly under priced sales of publicly owned land in Northern Ireland, that were later examined and exposed.

Any officials involved in public land deals should have been closely aware of such controversies, exposed indeed by previous audit office reports.