Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SHIFTING SANDS AT LOUGH NEAGH
Dredging set to continue...after Appeal Court rules against it
SAND extraction is to go ahead at Lough Neagh despite a court ruling against it, officials revealed yesterday.
Department for Infrastructure staff released the decision on contentious dredging along with a determination on five other planning applications.
The Court of Appeal had advised in June that former Environment Minister Mark H Durkan was wrong not to issue a Stop Notice.
And there is still no planning permission for the removal of 1.5million tonnes of sand from the bed of Lough Neagh every year – despite claims it is directly linked with plummeting numbers of fish, eels and wild birds.
Friends of the Earth took a case against Stormont over its failure to stop the “unlawful” practice – and a court of appeal judge ruled in their favour.
Director James Orr said: “This is a deeply disappointing decision. The dredging of sand at Lough Neagh is the biggest unauthorised development in the history of Northern Ireland. Friends of the Earth believes it may be the biggest unlawful development in a Special Protection Area, designated under the Birds Directive, in Europe.
“Special Protection Areas are meant to be governed by the precautionary approach and should be afforded the strictest protection.
“There is no planning permission or environmental assessments for this unlawful mining.
“The message that the Government is sending out is that when it comes to the environment the rule of law is not welcome in Northern Ireland.
“The courts ruled in our favour yet unlawful mining of Lough Neagh continues with the complicity of government. This decision gives it a free rein to the mining industry to turn our country into a Klondyke. When it comes to our most precious places, the government is effectively saying it is not a protector but a facilitator of damage. “We may have no option but to go back to the courts.”
Green Party NI deputy leader Tanya Jones also condemned the decision. She added: “This leaves Northern Ireland at risk of becoming a region whose glorious natural heritage will always be jettisoned when monied interests are involved – no matter how blatant the flouting of rules.”
Revealing its decision along with a list of determinations on five other projects, the department said: “The department has determined, based on the knowledge of the sand traders’ activities and up-todate environmental information now before it, that it is not expedient to issue
YESTERDAY
a Stop Notice at this time. Sand dredging may continue subject to the implementation of and adherence to mitigation measures and working conditions.
“The Lough Neagh Sand Traders have accepted all working parameters. The department reserves its power to reconsider its position and serve a Stop Notice at any time.”
Other projects that were given the green light include a Maritime Museum at Ebrington Square in Derry that could transform part of the city.
But just months after the backlash at the department’s decision to grant planning permission for a waste incinerator at Hightown, on the outskirts of North Belfast, they have given the go ahead for a quarry and landfill just 1.5miles away.
Two projects first suggested in 2011 have now been turned down.
They include plans for a tourist village and marina in Co Fermanagh and engineering and construction works at a site in Lisburn.