All,

Three of the Directors of Friends of Exploris Trust met with Officers
of Ards Borough Council in Exploris on Wednesday 12th March. The
Officers outlined the work that has been done with the business plan
for Exploris since the last Council meeting in February. The plan had
been presented to and approved by the Statutory Transitional Council.
Council Officers had met with officials of the Department of the
Environment the previous week and had been asked to make further
amendments. The business plan was returned to DOE on Monday 10th and
by Tuesday afternoon a list of further amendments to be made had been
emailed back to the Council. On each of these occasions the Council
was told that once these amendments had been made the business plan
would be forwarded on to the Department of Finance and Personnel and
to the Executive. On each occasion the goalposts appeared to change.

Friends of Exploris is impressed by the effort that the Council has
put into developing this plan and believe that the Council is doing
its utmost to meet all the demands being made by the civil servants at
the Department of the Environment. The Council Officers have been very
frank with us and are insistent on ongoing direct communication with
Friends of Exploris Trust. The Council also hopes to continue to work
with Friends of Exploris Trust in the future development of Exploris.
Friends of Exploris Trust has agreed to continue to support the
Council by lobbying and in any other way that we can in order to save
Exploris.

Elaine Roddy
Secretary
Friends of Exploris Trust