Two more months for Exploris

Two more months for Exploris

2 April 2014

THE beleaguered Exploris aquarium in Portaferry is to remain open for another two months before a final decision is taken about its future.

Ards Council has agreed to address a series of issues raised by the Department of Environment (DoE) to ensure a funding package for Exploris can be considered by the Stormont Executive.

The local authority prepared a business plan which was submitted to the DoE in January, aimed at reducing Ards Council’s Exploris contribution from £500,000 to £200,000 a year.

The government department has already agreed to commit £120,000 a year to maintain the aquarium’s seal sanctuary and a one-off payment of £45,000 to upgrade the facility. But the DoE has still to formally approve the business case and has asked for a number of revisions to be made to the document.

The revised business plan is expected to be submitted within the next few days and the council is hoping it can secure a one-off capital grant of £900,000 from the Executive.

Ards councillors agreed to address a series of issues raised by the DoE when they met last week. The meeting took place 24 hours after a number of politicians met with Environment Minister Mark Durkan.

The Stormont meeting was arranged by Portaferry councillor Joe Boyle who said it provided clarification on a number of issues which councillors were able to inform their colleagues about last Wednesday night.

Councillor Boyle said he organised the meeting after he failed to secure cross-party support for talks with Minister Durkan during a debate on the future of Exploris at Ards Council’s Development Committee on March 19.

“I simply could not understand the refusal of some of my colleagues to support my request to meet with Minister Durkan to find out ‘where we are.’ This is the one Minister who on several occasions has clearly demonstrated his commitment to Exploris and indicated his willingness to help,” he declared.

Welcoming the two-month deferment, councillor Boyle explained the DoE is seeking answers to a number of queries from consultants who drew up the business case. He said the government department also wants an undertaking from the committee overseeing the merger of Ards and North Down councils that it will commit to running Exploris for a five-year period.

“The bottom line is that the business case to be discussed by the Executive must be right. All the issues must be addressed and all the boxes ticked before government ministers sit down to discuss its detail. This will now be the case,” continued councillor Boyle.

“There have been many ups and downs during the campaign to keep the doors of Exploris open. A lot of people and groups have worked tremendously hard behind the scenes, with the Exploris issue taking up a lot of council officers’ time and that of elected representatives.”

Councillor Boyle believes that if it had not been for the perseverance of a number of councillors, the aquarium would have closed, depriving Portaferry and the surrounding area of a major tourism facility.

He added: “Minister Durkan has been a tower of strength in trying to save Exploris, alongside many others. I hope all the hard work pays off. I believe an excellent business case has been produced and that it will be positively received by the Executive.