Gold mine plan ‘not oven-ready when put out for consultation’
A PLAN for a major gold mine in Co Tyrone was not “oven-ready” when presented to the public, the High Court has been told.
Counsel for a residents’ group claimed no proper indication of the size of the project was given at an information event.
Dalradian, a Canadian company, is seeking permission to operate a mine in an area of the Sperrin Mountains where up to £3bn worth of gold is said to be deposited.
If approved, the 25-year scheme could support 350 jobs, with the company also predicting a massive boost to the local economy.
But the Greencastle, Rouskey, Gortin (GRG) Community is challenging the Department for Infrastructure’s handling of the pre-application community consultation (PACC).
It claims there were serious flaws in the preliminary stages of the controversial proposal, which involves 144 hectares of surface infrastructure in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Gregory Jones QC, for GRG, argued that a public event in November 2016, where informa- tion about the mine was put on show, implied that a planning application would be lodged a month later.
“You could say it’s premature, or that the development was not what it’s purported to be under the PACC process — something almost ready to go,” he said.
He contended that the height, scale and size of the surface infrastructure was not disclosed.
“If there’s to be a meaningful consultation, which the guidance says should take place, it should give the parameters of, for example, overground development,” the barrister insisted.
“The application wasn’t quite as oven-ready as was being suggested.”
The legal challenge is the first of its kind to be mounted in Northern Ireland.
The residents’ group says it was not given enough information before the 10,000-page planning application was submitted.
Further issues were raised about the level of detail provided on the stripping of peat topsoil and the size of a car park which would feature.
The court was told that if the mine is approved, it will take an estimated five years to complete restoration of the area after the operation comes to an end.
But Mr Jones claimed there had been “a fundamental approach error” at the community consultation stage.
The hearing continues.