Anger at ‘appalling’ decision to permit dredging in Lough Neagh

Both Friends of the Earth and the Green Party NI have said Thursday’s announcement by Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon means the long list of ‘special habitat’ protections are worthless.

Ms Mallon said her decision to approve the continuing dredging activity is “subject to a number of conditions”.

The minister also said this would be dependent on the “Section 76 Planning Agreement being concluded to my satisfaction”.

She said: “I am an advocate for protection of the environment, and particularly a special one such as Lough Neagh. Taking account of all of the comments made, I have come to the view that there will be no adverse effect caused by the development on the Lough in terms of its integrity or other aspects of its designated status provided that suitable conditions and agreed measures are put in place.”

The original planning application sought permission to remove up to 1.5m tonnes of sand each year from the bed of the lough for the next 15 years.

Ms Mallon added: “This approval was a finely balanced decision where I had to weigh up the various benefits with the potential for harm to the designation features of the lough.

“I carefully considered both the findings of the independent Public Inquiry and further representations received from interested parties alongside the recommendations of my planning officials. The PAC (Planning Appeals Commission) report also recommended that planning permission should be granted.”

However, Friends of the Earth NI director James Orr branded the minister’s decision “disgraceful,” and said all legal options were being considered.

Mr Orr said:“What this decision means is that our environmental designations don’t mean anything anymore. It is a wetland of international importance. It is an area of special scientific interest – which means it has the greatest protection status we can give under the law. Most importantly, it is a special protection area designated as one of the most important European nature reserves – particularly for birds. But none of that means anything anymore.

“To extract one and a half million tons of sand a year – if this was on land there would be a national outcry about it, but because it’s under water people can’t see the damage.”

Mr Orr added: “To remove that amount of material from a nature reserve that is supposed to have the strictest protection we have in law just doesn’t make any sense.

“The minister’s decision has made a mockery of our environmental designations and our protections. Very few areas are designated like this.

“We will be looking at our legal options once the final decision has been made.”

Green Party NI leader Clare Bailey described the minister’s decision as “an appalling assault on ecology and our environment,” and said that if the dredging is allowed, “then nothing is sacred”.

Ms Bailey said: “Lough Neagh has been at the mercy of the dredgers for years, with no department taking responsibility for managing and developing the Lough and preserving, maintaining and re-establishing its habitat as per the EU Birds Directive.

“This entire episode shows why an Independent Environmental Protection Agency is much needed for Northern Ireland.

“We’re crying out for an oversight body with the power and independence to address environmental destruction and step in when Executive ministers stand idly by and Northern Ireland disintegrates into an environmental wasteland.”