ARMAGH City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s decision not to tell a campaign group how much it sold a section of land to the Southern Regional College for is to be investigated.The Save Craigavon Lakes and Park group has been vocal opponents of a proposal to build a new SRC campus since plans were announced.They were approved by council planners in January 2019 and a judicial review was held in February 2020 with judgement reserved.In 2015, the council agreed to sell 10 acres of land in the park to SRC for £675,000.The campaign group has claimed the final area of land to be transferred via a combination of sale/lease agreements now exceeds 22 acres.The council has so far refused to disclose the final value, despite the valuation of the original transaction being in the public domain and the group's request for the information.The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has agreed to investigate this complaint."We are concerned that council did not act in the best interest of the ratepayers in asking for the best price for this land," a group spokesman said.A spokesperson for the ICO confirmed the case is currently being investigated."We are currently considering a case between these two parties (The Save Craigavon Lakes and Park campaign group and council),” said the spokesperson."Once a decision has been made this will be made public. It isn’t possible to say how long this will take."The ICO has the ability to issue a decision notice and if it finds council has breached the Freedom of Information Act it can force compliance.The council declined to comment.
Armagh council to be be investigated by Information Commissioner over Craigavon land sale row
