Alternative A5 Alliance

AA5A PRESS RELEASE 15 September 2011

'Dublin to Derry Road Groups Petition Minister Varadkar for Study of
Alternatives'

Three voluntary groups lobbying against the proposed new €1bn+ Dublin
to Derry Dual Carriageway have today written to the Minister for
Transport, Leo Varadkar, asking him to commission a study of possible
lower cost alternatives.

The Alternative A5 Alliance (Northern Ireland), Don't Bypass the
Bypass (Monaghan) and Save Newgange (Slane Bypass) have been working
in co-operation, to protect communities, environment and heritage
along the proposed route, over the last two years.

The letter was written in response to a recent announcement that there
is no funding available for the Slane bypass and numerous other roads
projects. However, the extravagant commitment by the previous
Government to give €500m to the Northern Ireland government for the A5
section seems to be still in place.

According to An Bord Pleanala the current target date for decision on
this case is the 25th October next; however, the Inspector’s report is
not yet completed and hence has not been received by the Board. Public
consultation on the A5 in NI is continuing, while consultation for the
Monaghan bypass section has not begun.

Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange, said:

"We are delighted to see that the Minister has commissioned studies
for lower cost alternatives, for projects like Metro.

"We hope he will do the same in this case, as it is the most expensive
road ever proposed in Ireland.

ENDS

AA5A PRESS RELEASE 30th May 2011

 

As the Public Inquiry on the proposal to build a new A5 enters its fourth week, the general public must be wondering how such an expensive project can be justified in a time of recession.  On behalf of Roads Service, David Hardcastle has stated in his Submission of Evidence that there will be 500 vehicles per day travelling the full 55 mile stretch between the two villages of Aughnacloy and Newbuildings and in so doing will shorten their journey time by 21 minutes at most. No account has been taken of the fact that this traffic will be travelling to destinations beyond NewBuildings i.e. Derry/Londonderry, Altnagelvin Hospital and Port of Derry at Lisahally.    Does the current estimate of £850 million for such an ambitious road scheme for so few road users represent good value for money for tax payers?  Roads Service officials and Mouchel consultants say it does, but then they admit they have already spent £34 million of public money on planning this scheme, so could not say otherwise. It should also be noted that the road still has to be designed and this will be done by the appointed contractors.

 

Indeed, in defence of their project Roads Service officials have been obliged to claim that the Alternative A5 Alliance wants overtaking lanes from end to end and that this will necessitate the demolition of 51 houses.  The AA5 Alliance has never suggested such a scheme and their representative, Martin Hoy,(an experienced Roads Engineer), made that clear at the Public Inquiry.  The AA5 Alliance and supporters from both sides of the border have always argued that there should be passing lanes where possible along the route and bypasses around densely populated areas but that no homes should be threatened with demolition.  They have always advocated getting the best value for money, which Roads Service representative, Conor Loughrey, has admitted his team did not do, as it was not part of their remit to look at all possible ways of upgrading the A5.  The government asked them to look only at one option, a dual carriageway, because in 2007 they thought they had the money for this and it was ‘affordable.’  This has emerged as the primary reason for the proposed A5, not safety issues and certainly not economic benefits, as there is no evidence that this scheme will bring jobs and capital investment to the West.

 In fact the Public Inquiry has heard a lot of evidence from both farmers, business people and concerned members of the public that suggest the West of the province will be further disadvantaged economically, if this road goes ahead.

 

It has been most interesting to watch the Roads Service representatives and their consultants, Mouchel, talk their way out of trouble and now, belatedly, offer to meet individual farmers to try to address their concerns.  It seems odd that these difficulties were not discussed at least a year ago, thereby saving farmers and their families a lot of worry and distress.  Of course there is no guarantee that the farmers’ problems will be solved at this late stage, especially when the Roads Service’s own legal adviser, Francis O’Reilly reminded everyone at the Local Inquiry on Thursday, May 26th that the scheme had been designed by Roads Service and it will take considerable submissions i.e. objections for it to change.  Let us hope he is as wrong about that as he was in his claim that landowners have received their individual reports summarising the adverse effects on their farms.  These were not sent to the farmers themselves but to their land agents, some of whom are still unaware that they have this important information which needs to be shared with their clients.  As one agent rightly claimed, the reports have been presented in such a way that they are almost ‘inaccessible.’

 

Members of the Alternative A5 Alliance recognise the need to attend the Public Inquiry in order to glean as much valuable information as possible, so that we can help those affected by the proposed road scheme. On that basis we have had and will continue to have a presence there on a daily basis. Unfortunately, most members have their own jobs and responsibilities and, unlike the members of Roads Service together with a huge back up team, Mouchel, and media representatives, they are not being paid to attend the Public Inquiry.  However, rest assured we will continue to do our best to serve the public interest.

 

 

 

Press Release ahead of Next week's AA5A visit to Dublin at the invite of Mr Joe Costello TD.

The Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A) group welcomes the invitation from the Labour Party spokesperson on Transport, Mr Joe Costello.  John Dunbar, Chairman of the group said that, as a group we would firstly like to thank Mr Costello for adding some much needed balance to a debate that has been fairly one sided to date.  Both Sinn Fein and DUP representatives at Ministerial level (as well as the smaller parties of Government) have been saying quite matter-of-factly that the A5 is a “done deal” and that is that.  Joe’s comments that any new administration in the South would need to look again at taking a half a billion out of the Southern economy at a time of a national economic emergency puts paid to that notion and affords those of us who have been trying to get our reasoned arguments across an opportunity to highlight the folly of such a proposal.

It is the hope of the AA5A group that no more money will be foolishly spent on consultants for work that has no hope of ever being carried out.  Up to £40 million has already been squandered on this “ghost road”, of that 9 million euro has come from the public purse in the South.  Had that money being used to upgrade the current A5, the citizens of the affected area and users of the road from Southern Ireland, would have a much enhanced motoring experience.

All parties of the Northern Ireland Government should now recognise the economic realities of   2011 on the Island of Ireland.  Projects predicated on the premise of cheap credit are now redundant.  The economic theory of consume, construct at any cost has come to a grinding halt in both parts of the Island.  Joe Costello and his colleagues should be congratulated for their commitment to the environment in Co Tyrone as well as saving the taxpayers of the Republic vast sums of money.

Addendum:

In the light of the ‘Water Crisis’ both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic, it seems like unforgivable folly to waste over £1billion on an unnecessary road when it is clear that many millions will be required to secure a safe water supply for all citizens north and south as a matter of urgency.

 

 

Committee set up to oppose planned A5 route after Newtown meeting

Thursday, 10 December 2009

A CAMPAIGN group has been established to oppose the controversial preferred A5 Western Transport Corridor route from Aughnacloy to Londonderry, following a public meeting on the issue in the Newtownstewart 2000 Centre.
Held on Saturday evening, upwards of 60 people attended the event, including representatives from the farming community, many of whom were owners of land and property that will be adversely affected by the planned route. Also in attendance were Roads Service officials and elected representatives from both the Omagh and Strabane districts.
Throughout the meeting those attending voiced their strong opposition to the plans, with many fearing there was little they could do to "protect themselves from this invasion of their human rights".
Those protesting over the planned route also called for the relative government minister to look at possible alternatives to the preferred route, namely, a railway system linking Portadown with Londonderry, which they believed, would be a far less costly exercise, and one which would give a 'modern transport system for the citizens of the West of Northern Ireland'.
They proposed, also, that the existing A5 should instead be upgraded in tandem, with additional overtaking lanes.
Impact
The severe environmental impact of the proposed A5 scheme was also outlined, and there were impassioned and emotional accounts from those present about the devastating effect this would have on their lives, if allowed to proceed.
Following a lengthy debate on the issue, a formal committee was elected with a remit to oppose the 'Western Transport Corridor' and to replace it with a superior 'Western Sustainable Transport Corridor' comprising the reinstated railway and an upgraded A5 road.
The group, initially called the 'Tyrone Rail-road Committee' comprises officers: chairman, John Dunbar, treasurer, Hamilton Hassard, press officer, Malcolm Lake, education officer, Heather Kemps and secretary, Lynne Smyth (lynne.smyth@tyronerailroad.com).
Speaking after the meeting, the chairman of the newly-elected group, Mr Dunbar, said many people had suffered 'great emotional pain' over the present plans. "At the meeting many people spoke of the great emotional pain and torture they had been going through, and the noise and atmospheric pollution they will have to suffer because they reside in houses right beside where they plan to build this new route," he said.
“The people were very impassioned about it and said they felt powerless over the whole thing. The farming community felt they were being rail-roaded over by a road that very few people wanted - cutting up farms and leaving some farmers at sixes and sevens from how they are going to get from one farm to another, while others are having their farms cut up in little pieces".
The campaign group will meet for the first time in its formal capacity on Saturday, January 16, 2010.

 

Alternative A5 Alliance meeting – Saturday 9th January 2010

The group of individuals, formed at a meeting on December 5th 2009, met together for the first time on Saturday January 9th, at the Newtownstewart 2000 Centre.

The meeting was arranged to involve other interested parties including legal, political and farming interests and a number of concerned members of the public were present.  The object of the group—now called the ‘Alternative A5 Alliance’—is to oppose the massive overkill proposal for a limited-access dual carriageway and to propose the sustainable alternative of a 3-lane road from Aughnacloy to L’Derry, coupled with a reinstated railway, from L’Derry to Portadown.

It was agreed that the present proposals offer an outdated approach to the modern transport needs of the North-West region.  The present proposals totally neglect the need to bring transport projects in line with current EU and international thinking and for responsible requirements of cutting CO2 emissions and protecting the environment.

The Alternative A5 Alliance Committee discussed the following action points:

  • co-ordinating the active opposition to the present wasteful and destructive proposed A5 dualling project;
  • mobilising land-owners, business owners, and householders affected adversely by the proposals;
  • bringing on board environmental groups, animal and wildlife protection, rural amenity and human rights groups to promote the sustainable alternative;
  • putting in place lobby groups to seek political support at the highest level;
  • advising on the legal challenges to be made on the obvious dereliction of legal responsibility by the government authorities pursuing the present damaging proposal;
  • establishing funding for the campaign;
  • seeking a professional consultancy to prepare a report on the actual transport needs of the north-west;
  • providing economic and engineering basis for the sustainable alternative ie. The re-establishment of a modern user-friendly rail link between L’Derry and Portadown and thus with connections to Dublin and Belfast, with all the attendant real economic and environmental benefits and the upgrade of the existing A5 to a 2+1 modern road.
  • organising public information events.

 

 

A5 LOBBY GROUP OUTLINES THE WAY AHEAD

LONDONDERRY SENTINEL - 21 JANUARY 2010

A LOBBY group formed to oppose what it calls "the massive, overkill proposal for a limited-access dual carriageway" between Aughnacloy and Londonderry has outlined an alternative vision for transport in the west of Northern Ireland.

The 'Alternative A5 Alliance' met in Newtownstewart recently to propose "a sustainable alternative of a three-lane road from Aughnacloy to Derry, coupled with a reinstated railway, connecting Portadown and Derry".
The meeting was arranged to involve other concerned parties including legal, political and farming interests. A number of members of the public were also present.
Said Malcolm Lake, spokesperson for the alliance: "It is agreed that these present proposals offer an outdated approach to the modern transport needs of the North-West region.
"The scheme totally neglects the need to bring transport projects in line with current EU and international thinking and for the responsible need to reduce CO2 emissions and to protect the environment."
At the meeting the group discussed a number of "action points".
Destructive
The road campaigners propose to co-ordinate the active opposition to the present "wasteful and destructive proposed A5 dualling project" and to mobilise land-owners, business owners, and householders affected adversely by the proposals.
The group will court environmental, animal and wildlife protection groups and rural amenity and human rights groups to promote "a sustainable alternative" and will put in place lobby groups to seek political support at the highest level.
The possibility of a legal challenge, fundraising, the employment of professional consultants to prepare a report on the actual transport needs of the North-West and the organisation of public information events were also discussed.
Mr Lake said the group wants to provide an economic and engineering basis for the sustainable alternative. It suggests the re-establishment of a modern user-friendly rail link between Londonderry and Portadown, with connections to Belfast, Dublin and other parts of Ireland with all the attendant real economic and environmental benefits.
It was also resolved to write to the Regional Development Minister formally, introducing the existence of the committee, pointing out his error in following the course presently embarked upon and inviting him to cease the work and to consider the 'Alternative A5' that the group proposes.

http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/A5-lobby-group-outlines-alternative.6001645.jp

 

 

Unnecessary dual carriageway cannot be made acceptable

ON behalf of the Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A), I write in response to prospective parliamentary candidate, Joe Byrne (Ulster Herald, March 25th), who 'calls for the A5 road issues to be resolved.' As if this proposed dual carriageway is a 'done deal', Mr Byrne. No sir, it is by no means so.

The Executive of the Northern Ireland Assembly has contracted to spend a massive £30 million for work it is to carry out to prepare the scheme for Public Inquiry, in 2011. There is no guarantee, however, that all of this money being thrown at it will result in the proposal being legitimised.

This is surely an awful waste of taxpayers' money.

Mr Byrne describes the proposed road as being "vital for future development" and while AA5A agrees that the present transport infrastructure in the West and North-West of Northern Ireland is deficient, the solution is most certainly not to build a dual-carriageway. Such a scheme is a 1960s solution, things have moved-on by 50 years. Indeed, Northern Ireland has a carbon footprint that is the disgrace of Europe, with one of the highest, if not the highest, per capita dependence on road transport and consequent CO2 production. Unfortunately, a large percentage of our politicians, local and regional, do not see the need to reduce this reliance on motor transport.

Frankly, Mr Byrne, it is difficult to imagine how a four-lane wide/86 km long dual-carriageway as proposed, sterilising in excess of 2,000 hectares, can be developed without causing chaotic severance to very many farms. With such a huge proposed road, all of the projected disruption is inevitable.

Mr Byrne also refers to "boosting local development." Well, another deficiency with this proposed scheme is the absence of any cost/benefit study carried out, related to the road.

AA5A can say for sure, there will be much cost to the farming community of Tyrone and Derry and huge benefit to the road construction contractors, lined-up and rubbing their hands at the prospect of lucrative contracts.

The best solution, is not to develop the proposed dual-carriageway road at all. The present A5 road does not carry sufficient traffic to justify the road as now proposed. AA5A feels it is likely that it will be thrown out at the Public Inquiry in 2011.

A far better infrastructural solution would be for the former railway line to be re-laid. Much of the track-bed yet exists.

This would link-in to the existing Northern Ireland railway system and connect with the extensive network in the Irish Republic to provide a modern, safe, transport system to connect with all parts of the island of Ireland, with towns, cities, seaports and airports. The existing A5 should be upgraded to a three-lane, two plus one, road, in keeping with the present traffic levels and the railway will tend to constrain the growth of further traffic upon it. This widening of the existing road will have nothing like the severance disruption of the proposed dual carriageway, involving manly land-takes from the edges of existing holdings.

Finally, when one considers the facts, the AA5A can only criticise the Northern Ireland Executive for proposing such a massive sledgehammer to crack the relatively simple nut of the transport infrastructure deficit of the North-West.

Malcolm Lake

Press Officer, AA5A

 http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/UH/free/319719515169769.php

 

06 May 2010

Campaigner Takes A5 Dispute To EC

An environmentalist is taking his case to Europe to prevent the building of a major new cross border road scheme.

The green campaigner, who is opposed to the construction of the new A5 dual carriageway between Aughnacloy and Londonderry said it is because he fears it will have a devastating impact on the environment in the North West.

The road will run across into the Irish Republic as well and has been supported by Dublin as well as Stormont politicians.

He is now taking his case to Europe in a bid to prevent the construction companies moving in to clear the hundreds of acres that will be involved in the multi-million pound project.

Newbuildings man, Victor Christie, a local spokesman for Friends of the Earth and a member of the A5 Alliance, told the lcoa paper, the Strabane Weekly News that he hopes to present his concerns over many aspects of the £850m scheme to the European Commission within the next month.

Describing the project as a "dangerous experiment", Mr Christie warned that the preferred route of the A5 will run through a "substantial" flood plain for nine kilometres between Strabane and Bready, leading to serious consequences for the surrounding landscape.

Mr Christie, an engineer who has worked on motorways in the UK and Canada, said: "They are planning to build the new road on a high embankment going through the flood plain.

"This would raise the water table substantially on 2,000 acres of good farmland with rich fertile soil. This land would then be subject to serious flooding in the future, thereby diminishing the soil quality of the flood plain."

The environmental activist said that this would cause the ground to lose fertility, the soil to become more stagnant, and would also affect the nesting sites of local birds. Noise pollution would also increase as the height of the dual carriageway above the landscape would make sound carry much further, he claimed.

Mr Christie added: "The sad thing is, the evidence won't be completely obvious maybe for years afterwards. By that time, the people in charge of the construction work will have gone."

The Newbuildings man also wants a safety audit carried out to ensure that the danger from high winds to the raised road has been mitigated.

Claiming that the economics of the project "don't stand up", he warned that the cost of building the road through the flood plain would be four times more than building it through normal, hard ground.

In a recent email sent to Stormont Environment Minister Edwin Poots, Mr Christie also suggested that the road should instead be taken into Donegal at Lifford and connected to Londonderry via Bridgend.

 http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=111012