THE only councillor from the Dungiven area not to vote in favour of a new sports complex being built in the town has said he may reconsider his decision in the event of a future vote.
The TUV's Boyd Douglas was the sole representative of the Benbradagh ward, which takes in the Co Derry town, not to support calls for the £2.8m facility to go ahead.
Mr Douglas, the only unionist councillor for the area, abstained during a vote at Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council a fortnight ago which saw unionists put the plans on hold due to a "considerable financial shortfall".
Sinn Féin accused unionist councillors of "blocking the project".
Mr Douglas told The Irish News: "I was caught in a very difficult situation. They didn’t tell me that it would be that night that it would be discussed.
"Then the cost came up as £2.8 million. The landfill community funding was mentioned to fill the gap but that would have tied up all the available funding for the next three years."
Mr Douglas added: "I feel there is a need for the Dungiven centre. I had my hand up and hand down during the debate. I still feel it should go ahead but should stay within the £2.5m budget that council agreed."
The TUV councillor said he would consider meeting residents who have called on elected representatives who did not vote in favour to discuss their decision.
The former East Derry MLA also said he was "not involved" in discussions about flags prior to the vote.
Sinn Féin councillor Sean McGlinchey has claimed that Ulster Unionists told the party it would vote in favour of the Dungiven project if republicans dropped opposition to Union flags flying 365 days a year on all council buildings.
The claim has been denied by the Ulster Unionist grouping on the council, which said it "utterly rejects any attempt by Sinn Féin to introduce claims of sectarian motivations to the decision making process".
Mr Douglas said: "Sinn Féin have used the call-in mechanism constantly in the old Limavady Borough Council and the new council to challenge issues of importance to the unionist community such as flags."
He added: "I was happy with the flag on the old Limavady Borough Council on designated days. It is okay for some of them to take the money of this country but they don’t like the Union flag. The Union flag is the flag of this country."
