Savage blow as groups hit by cutbacks

Savage blow as groups hit by cutbacks

1 April 2015

STAFF at two of the district’s leading environmental bodies have been left reeling by news their funding will be slashed.

The Ulster Wildlife Trust, which employs 20 staff at its Crossgar office, has been told its £220,000 annual grant provided by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency will be totally cut, while the Mourne Heritage Trust, which employs 15 permanent staff in Newcastle and Annalong, is to lose three quarters of its funding.

Both organisations have this week confirmed several jobs will be lost as a result of the cuts, which have been confirmed by the Department of Environment due to a reduction in its budget.

Although management had expected a reduction in funding in light of the government’s economic difficulties, both organisations have spoken of their shock and disappointment at the decision.

Martin Carey, chief executive off Mourne Heritage Trust said the cut represented 75 per cent of his annual funding and would leave a “significant hole” in his budget.

Unusually, he said the NIEA would allocate the entirety of the funding within the next three months, which means the organisation will not be able to spread the economic blow over a full year.

“We were not expecting the severity and nature of these cuts,” he said.

“We had been alerted that the Department of Environment was facing very difficult budget circumstances and that funds would be constrained but we did not expect to be able to keep going full on for the first financial quarter as the £56,000 allocated must be spent before the end of June.

“We were trying to plan for whatever economies and savings we could make but now we are in a situation where it will be all duck for the first quarter of the year and no dinner thereafter.

“This is effectively a three month notice period.”

Mr Carey added that he hoped the Department would explore new arrangements with bodies like Mourne Heritage Trust.

“This appears to mean that as of the July 1 NIEA will have no financial provision for management of the Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  “Not only was the designation made by government but the agency, then as Environment and Heritage Service, established Mourne Heritage Trust in 1997 to meet an identified need for locally based management. “It is environmentally, politically and socially inconceivable that the organisation which established areas of outstanding natural beauty and Mourne Heritage Trust would make no financial provision for their management and walk away.

“It is virtually inevitable that we will have to restructure.

“It is hard, particularly when the decision that has been made has in no way attempted to take into account the need for services and our performance.”

With Mourne Heritage Trust boasting some of the leading experts in upland path management and wildfire control, Mr Carey said the cuts will have an impact on the environment, as well as proving a blow to tourism and employment.

Kelly Muldoon, communications officer for the Ulster Wildlife Trust, said the cut to it’s budget represented a quarter of their total annual income.

She said the money was used to protect some of Northern Ireland’s special habitats for wildlife and nature reserves.

Although she said the charity would continue to operate, she said the cuts would lead to compulsory redundancies.

“The severity of the cuts was not expected,” she said. “We are quite shocked by the extent, which is unprecedented.

“We do have other pots of income but we will have to scale back and look at restructuring and reviewing operations.”