A5 decision ‘a body blow’ for Northern Ireland

Quashing of road scheme will cost lives and erode hope of Northern Ireland’s young people, says QPANI

LAST week’s decision by Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy not to appeal a court ruling quashing the £330 million A5 road scheme will cost lives and erode the hope’s of the region’s young people, says the Quarry Products Association Northern Ireland (QPANI).

Mr Kennedy confirmed that he would not be appealing after a High Court judge quashed the decision to press ahead with the dualling of the A5 from Londonderry to Aughnacloy – the largest scheme of its kind in Northern Ireland – on environmental grounds.

Gordon Best, regional director of QPANI, said the decision was ‘extremely disappointing’ as the project would have sustained approximately 2,500 jobs directly and probably the same again in the construction supply chain.

‘It’s a body blow for not just the business community in the West and North West, but for the whole of Northern Ireland,’ he said. ‘Taken together with the continuing delays in the delivery of the proposed Police and Fire Training College in Cookstown, we are losing over half a billion pounds of construction investment in the West of the province.

‘This is unforgivable at a time when we continue to lose jobs across the construction industry and our young engineers, architects and skilled tradespeople have no option but to look overseas for employment and their future quality of life.

‘We must learn lessons from the A5 case. We must get better at commissioning, procuring and delivering major infrastructure projects,’ he continued. ‘As a society, we must all recognize that the interests of the few must not outweigh the interests of the many.

‘It is quite clear, despite the fears of many that economic interests currently outweigh environmental interests, that the reality is the protection of badgers, newts and fish, very important as that is, is given more priority than people’s lives and the future employment opportunities of our young people.

‘We must now ensure that the money, the £150 million plus that was allocated to this project in this current financial year, is spent locally and on shovel-ready construction projects.’

Mr Best added that here were also major social implications as a result of the postponement and possible scrapping of the A5 project, non-more so than the road safety implications.

‘When one looks at the dramatic improvement in the reduction of major accidents and fatalities across Ireland as a result of significant investment in building a motorway network, including our own A1 and A4, how many lives of road users between Londonderry and the border will be lost due to the delay or cancellation of the A5 economic corridor,’ he said.