Council reverses decision on ‘blue lights’ leisure centre discounts

Unionist councillors have managed to overturn a committee’s decision to reject plans to grant discounted admission for military and emergency services personnel at the borough's leisure facilities.

The motion tabled by the UUP's Sandra Hunter aimed to “recognise the immense contribution made by those who serve our communities and country, including members of the emergency services, serving Armed Forces personnel, reservists and veterans”.

While supported by members of unionist parties, the motion fell when it was tabled at Cloonavin’s Leisure and Development committee last month thanks to opposition from Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance.

When members gathered for the full council’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, Cllr Hunter initially offered an amendment excluding police, coastguard, fire service and ambulance personnel from her proposed scheme.

But, perhaps aware of a shift in the chamber’s political make-up, the DUP’s Darryl Wilson said his party was prepared to back the original motion.

When the vote was retaken, Alliance party abstentions contributed to a majority in favour of Cllr Hunter’s motion.

During the initial committee debate, Cllr Wilson had raised questions over Sinn Fein's opposition.

“Whenever I look at this motion I see 'armed forces personnel and veterans'. It's no surprise to me that Sinn Fein have voted against this.”

On Tuesday however, the Kathleen McGurk said her party’s stand had always been based on the scheme’s cost to ratepayers.

“The fundamental concern that we as a party have is that we are creating a bespoke discount scheme for one group and this set a precedent moving forward.

“It’s not about which groups should qualify for discount, it’s about the principle of introducing a concession that pushes that cost on to rate-payers

“There will no doubt be other very worthy groups that will come forward looking for a similar scheme to be introduced and I don’t think doing this in a piecemeal way is the way forward.”

Earlier Cllr Hunter said her motion sought to recognise service.

She said focusing on the armed forces would create a more straight forward option and other categories could be considered at a later date.

“If we can not recognise those who have worn the uniform of our nation and stood ready to defend our freedoms, then who can we recognise?” she asked.

“Our armed forces personnel have sacrificed family time personal comfort and, in some cases their own safety in service to our country.”

When the DUP indicated its willingness to support her original motion, Ald. Hunter said she was “more than happy” to withdraw her proposed amendment and re-admit ‘blue lights’ personnel to the scheme.