News & Events
New Chairman Announced for New Lisburn-Castlereagh Transition Committee28 August 2009
Councillor Jonathan Craig, MLA, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the joint Lisburn-Castlereagh Transition Committee, which has been established to oversee the smooth merger of Lisburn City Council and Castlereagh Borough Council, due to take place in 2011.
Councillor Craig was recently appointed as Chairman of the Transition Committee following the resignation of Alderman Edwin Poots due to his appointment as Minister for the Environment.
Speaking about his recent appointment Councillor Craig said: “I am honoured to take the position of Chairman of the Lisburn-Castlereagh Transition Committee at such an important time for local government. With elected representatives from both Councils working together, the Committee is fully dedicated to ensuring the merger and the transfer of functions will take place as planned in 2011. The Committee was established to make the transition as efficient as possible and regular meetings will bring the merger of Lisburn City and Castlereagh a step closer. I am proud to lead the Committee into this new era of public service delivery.”
The Lisburn-Castlereagh Transition Committee currently meet on a voluntary monthly basis with statutory powers
expected to be given to all the Transition Committees in early 2010.
Paying tribute to Alderman Poots, MLA, Councillor Craig said: “ I would like to thank the previous Chairman on the work the Transition Committee has done to date. There is still a lot of work to be done in a relatively short space of time and along with the Committee’s Vice-Chairman, Councillor Brian Hanvey and fellow Committee members we will work to ensure that our Councils’ transition runs as smoothly as possible, whilst maintaining a high level of service to all our ratepayers and customers.”
The Lisburn-Castlereagh Transition Committee met recently with its Belfast counterpart and speaking about the meeting Councillor Craig said: ”I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of our Transition Committee to thank the Belfast Transition Committee for meeting with us. It was welcoming and encouraging to discover during this initial meeting that all three Councils – Lisburn City, Castlereagh Borough and Belfast City, shared concerns over staffing and other issues.
“Following an amicable meeting the two Transition Committees have agreed to work together to approach the relevant Government bodies to ensure that the unique issues relating to the proposed boundary changes of the three Councils are addressed in a suitable manner.”
Minutes from the Lisburn-Castlereagh Transition Committee are available to view online at www.lisburncity.gov.uk
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