Three of the Directors of Friends of Exploris Trust  have met with Officers of Ards Borough Council in Exploris on Wednesday 12 March.
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A business case to save Exploris has now been presented to the Executive and the DOE[/caption]
A spokesperson for the  Trust said: “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 10 March 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 the 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.”
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