Building £160m road in Heaney’s land ‘like wrecking work of art’
BUILDING a new £160m road through landscape made famous by poet Seamus Heaney would be like cutting away at a Rembrandt painting, the High Court heard.
An ornithologist compared the wetland where migratory birds nest to the works of the Dutch painter as he challenged plans for the A6 Belfast to Derry upgrade to pass nearby.
Chris Murphy (below ) also branded Northern Ireland “the dirty corner of Europe” in dealing with environmental and conservation issues.
He is seeking to stop a section of the road being built near Mossbawn, Co Derry — the former Nobel laureate’s childhood home — due to an alleged breach of a directive on specially protected areas (SPA).
Judicial review proceedings are examining ecological checks on the potential disturbance to wildlife on Lough Neagh and Lough Beg from the proposed Toome to Castledawson stretch.
The disputed route for the dual carriageway scheme was identified following a public inquiry nearly a decade ago.
The intention is to significantly improve the transport corridor connecting Belfast to Derry and reduce rush-hour gridlock.
Legal action began after Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard gave the green light to the scheme last year. Mr Murphy claims a breach of the habitats directive giving protected status
to the loughs.
“This wetland area should have world heritage status,” Mr Murphy told Mrs Justice Keegan in court yesterday.
“Bit by bit the habitat is being nibbled at, just like cutting the corner off a Rembrandt. How can you build a motorway through such a special place and not expect at least some residual adverse effect to remain?”
He described walking the fields in the SPA during more than 30 years of bird watching.
According to Mr Murphy it represents the most important site for the rare Bewick’s swan in Northern Ireland.
But their numbers have plunged from just over 500 back in 1991, the court heard. The ornithologist claimed it was “ridiculous” to contend that only 2% of the 41,000-hectare site could be impacted by the road.
The case continues.