A COUNCIL signed up to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme for a sports facility on the day it closed to new applications in February, and almost two years after the prospect of biomass supplies for the site were first discussed by elected representatives.
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, on which the DUP is the largest party, applied to the RHI scheme but has not yet made any claims for Allen Park in Antrim town.
Antrim and Newtownabbey is the only council in Northern Ireland to have applied to the scheme.
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council has said it made no claims and received no payments between its application and last Monday, December 5.
The council is still enrolled in the scheme and has not withdrawn from it, having signed up to RHI on February 29 this year.
A council spokeswoman said: "Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council submitted an application to the RHI scheme on February 29 for the new Allen Park sports hub.
"The application was submitted post the amendments made by the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment on November 18 2015 which included changes to the banding and introduction of tiered tariffs."
The council said initial discussions about sustainable energy supplies, including the prospect of using biomass, for Allen Park were first held at a meeting in 2014.
A council spokeswoman said: "Sustainability measures for the Allen Park scheme, which included biomass, were approved by the former Antrim Borough Council’s Development and Leisure Committee in April 2014.
"Subsequently in February 2016, an application was made to the RHI scheme which was an operational decision.
"Building work on this new project was completed in September 2016.
The council spokeswoman added: "Claims under the RHI scheme cannot be progressed until the end of the first operating quarter of the project when the relevant information becomes available. The council awaits confirmation that the application to the RHI scheme has been successful."
The DUP is the largest party on the 40-seat Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council with 15 councillors, followed by the UUP with 13.
The mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Ulster Unionist councillor John Scott, said: "It is energy saving and it is good for the ratepayer. That would be why the council has taken it on board. The council would have thought about it long before (February 29)."
