A6 FIGHT ISN’T OVER CONSERVATIONIST TO GO TO EUROPE AFTER LEGAL CASE FAILS
AN ornithologist aiming to stop a new £160m road claims he is prepared to take his case all the way to the European Court of Justice after his latest legal bid failed.
Chris Murphy was seeking to overturn a previous ruling that the plans to build a section of the A6 Belfast to Londonderry upgrade close to wetlands where migratory birds forage are lawful.
But judges in the Court of Appeal rejected his claims that the environmental assessment was out of date and required further analysis due to the passage of time.
Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan held that a Stormont Minister’s decision to proceed with the scheme last year complied with the Habitats Directive.
He said: “The 2016 statement addressed the impacts on each of the significant features.”
Mr Murphy, who brought the case as a personal litigant, signalled he may now seek to take his fight to Brussels.
“I may have lost today but I remain 100% convinced that the law is firmly on the side of these incredible wetlands, which are an irreplaceable habitat whose value to man and nature has not been given proper consideration,” he said. “It is simply outrageous to allow this construction to go on and cause irreversible harm to a Special Protection Area when many alternative routes exist. The government is required in law to give these areas the strictest protection.
“I believe it has failed to honour its commitments to the Eu- ropean Union under the Habitats Directive and I will now appeal to the Supreme Court.
“Given the huge public importance in this case, I shall appeal the correctness of today’s decision and request that the authorities continue to suspend all work on the contested 2.5 mile section of road until the appeal process has run its course, if necessary taking it to the European Court of Justice in Brussels.”
The legal battle centred on the disputed Toome to Castledawson stretch of road close to Mossbawn, Co Londonderry — the childhood home of poet Seamus Heaney.
The route was identified following a public inquiry nearly a decade ago.
Former Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard (inset) gave the green light to the scheme last year in a bid to significantly improve a major transport corridor and ease rush-hour gridlock.
Proceedings examined ecological checks made regarding potential disturbance to wintering swans on nearby Lough Neagh and Lough Beg.
Earlier this year, a High Court judge held that the department’s decision was lawful and rational.
Representing himself once again in an appeal against that verdict, Mr Murphy claimed the project was based on environmental information from nearly a decade ago.
He insisted the authorities were legally required to carry out a new, appropriate assessment of the ecological impact under Article 6 of the Habitats Directive.
Instead, he claimed, the analysis carried out in 2016 was “not fit for purpose”.
According to Mr Murphy, the area represents the most important wintering site for whooper swans in Ireland — but their numbers are now in decline.
Building a dual carriageway there will destroy the seclusion and tranquillity which brings the birds back, he contended.
Lawyers for the Department for Infrastructure insisted surveys of whooper swan patterns in the area have been maintained annually.
They also stressed how the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) was consulted and concluded that the scheme will not have an adverse impact.
Ruling on the appeal, Sir Declan rejected contentions that a further appropriate assessment was required due to the passage of time.
The judge also concluded that there is no direct impact on the protected whooper swans. A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure said: “The Department welcomes today’s Judicial Review Appeal Judgment upholding the original judgment in favour of the department. Both judgments confirm the department’s robust economic, engineering and environmental assessment procedures.
“As a result of the judgment the department will commence construction of the Toome to Moyola River section of the scheme, which had been delayed due to the legal challenge.”