Ulster Unionist Leader Mike Nesbitt MLA has said that the Sports Minister Carál Ní Chuilín has several questions to answer following the release of the Project Assessment Review of the redevelopment of Casement Park stadium.
Mr Nesbitt said:
“A number of important questions arise from the report issued last Friday.
“In the notes to editors which accompanied the Minister’s press release, we were informed that ‘a team from KSS Design Group were on-site for part of the review and provided detailed technical support to the review team.”
“KSS do indeed have a proven track record of delivering top quality projects and were the architects who worked on the Amex Stadium, home of Brighton & Hove Albion FC.
“I was however curious to note that their partners on the Brighton project were the Buckingham Group, who actually built the AMEX Stadium.
“This is important because the builders contracted to build the new Casement Park is Heron Buckingham Joint Venture (HBJV). Heron refers to a Draperstown based contractor, whilst Buckingham refers to the same firm which built the Amex Stadium in Brighton.
“It does seem rather curious that of all the architects firms in the United Kingdom who could have been asked to ‘provide detailed support to the technical review team,’ the one which was selected was the very one which had previous experience of working with the builders who had been chosen to work on the Casement project.
“Perhaps a declaration of interest was stated, but there is no reference in the Minister’s press release or her notes to editors. In the interests of transparency it would be helpful to know the process which was followed in selecting KSS, and at what stage they informed the review team that they had prior experience of working with the firm which was waiting to build the new Casement Park.
“I would also like to know why the Sports Grounds Safety Authority – the Government body that carries out a range of statutory functions in relation to football in England and Wales, and advisory functions in relation to other sports within the UK and internationally – did not play a more prominent role other than having two of its inspectors ‘interviewed.’ They are after all the authors of the ‘Green Guide’ which is the definitive handbook on safety at sports grounds and also helped deliver the London 2012 Olympics.
“The Minister has other questions to answer, not least the extent of unrecoverable expenditure, bearing in mind that according to the Review Team, it will be at least 12 months before a planning application will even be submitted and possibly three years until building commences.
“No doubt many people will also want to know what impact the delay to the redevelopment of Casement Park will have on the joint bid to hold the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Northern Ireland and the Republic. The deadline for confirmation of intent to tender to host the tenth Rugby World Cup is June 2016 and by the Report’s own admission, planning permission for Casement will not even have been applied for by then.”