Ardglass marina facing inquiry

Ardglass marina facing inquiry

THE Charity Commission has intervened in a growing dispute surrounding the operation of Phennick Cove marina in Ardglass.

The dispute centres around the control of revenue generated by the marina and whether the money should be used for community projects in the village or kept to refurbish and repair the marina.

There is currently almost £230,000 in a Phennick Cove marina bank account and the facility generates an income of approximately £60,000 a year.

Now the Charity Commissioner has called on Phennick Cove Developments Ltd., which operates the marina, to register as a charity to allow a formal investigation to get underway,

Phennick Cove Developments was set up in 1996 by Ardglass Development Association (ADA) to develop and build a marina as a major regeneration project. The limited company was needed to apply for the various loans and grants which were provided to build the £1.58m marina.

The 80-berth marina was eventually opened providing facilities for visiting and local boats including an amenity building with an office, laundry, kitchen and showers.

However, the profits generated by the marina have been kept by Phennick Cove Developments for the upkeep and repair of the facility and not made available to Ardglass Development Association which believes the money should be used for village projects.

There is no suggestion of any financial irregularity or that any money is missing.

ADA chairwoman, Mary McCargo, says Phennick Cove is unaccountable to the people of Ardglass and because of the attitude of the marina directors, the village is losing out.

“These directors did not have a democratic mandate to take over the marina,” she said.

“Successive approaches by ADA representatives to DARD and other organisations and the calling of a public meeting also did not succeed in regaining control.

“Ardglass does not have an integrated development strategy and cannot form one because of this ridiculous situation we have been put in particularly by the funders and other agencies.

“We are losing out as a community. We need to create inward investment for Ardglass and create jobs and prosperity. This current situation is a no-win situation.

“I understand there is £238,000 in the marina account. ADA could have used these funds to help groups lever other funding for the benefit of Ardglass or generally to stimulate economic recovery, improve the built environment or better social life for all in the village. Our flagship has been sunk.”

Mrs. McCargo said there is a determination to resolve the situation and “repair the broken process in Ardglass.”

“We are saddened that this may have been be perceived as a squabble over money or an attack on personalities. It is not. “ she continue. “We are totally honourable in our intentions. We wish to abide by proper community development principles however, things do need to change.

“We will wait and see what happens and  I would ask everyone to please remain respectful in the interest of good neighbourliness.

“It is our wish for the whole process to be repaired and we have already started to put an objective plan in place for this to happen which will be released in due course. ADA too needs revamped. We must move forward and modernise our process of community development. It is stuck back in the 90s.

Several attempts by the Recorder to secure a statement from representatives of Phennick Cove Developments went unanswered.