Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council has reversed a decision on a housing application following a conflict-of-interest investigation involving former DUP councillor Luke Poots and his father Edwin Poots. The ex-councillor chaired a committee which accepted a planning application lobbied for by his father. After a legal challenge, the council refused planning permission, incurring costs of £76,000. The council is investigating complaints against Luke Poots for around 35 planning decisions examined by the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards. Poots has denied wrongdoing, and his father claimed there was “no conflict of interest in any way, shape or form.”
Nigel Kinnaird, a resident who was involved in the legal challenge, has said the council should apologise. The planning application was due to be determined by council officials under delegated authority but was instead referred to the planning committee at the request of DUP. Edwin Poots spoke in favour of the application and officials recommended refusal, but the majority of the committee voted to approve the application, as noted in the minutes. Environmentalist Gordon Duff sought a judicial review of the decision with support from local residents, and the planning approval was quashed by the High Court in 2021.
The case, which was heard in August 2021, considered allegations of breaches of countryside planning policy and conflicts of interest surrounding Poots’ membership of the relevant council committee. It was also claimed the plans were passed by DUP councillors voting in a block to carry the proposal, a charge denied by the party. The High Court judge noted that the claims, if sufficiently evidenced, gave rise to “arguable grounds of procedural unfairness.” The council has now issued a fresh decision notice on the planning application.
Luke Poots served as a councillor from 2013 until 2019, and was once employed as a case worker in his father’s constituency office. He has previously stated that the council received legal advice which he has always followed, and that he has “done everything by the book” and is “100% in the clear”. He also stated that he declared an interest every time he chaired a meeting where his father spoke. Edwin Poots, for his part, has said that there is “no conflict of interest that has been exercised in any way, shape or form by either myself, my son, other DUP members or anybody else on the council.”
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More