Northern Ireland Assembly Monday 14th February 2011

Excerpt from
http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports2010/110214.pdf

Ms Lo: Since my party colleague Dr Farry has given an overview of our evaluation of the Budget, I will focus on the Department for Regional Development’s draft budget. Even as the newest member of the Committee for Regional Development, I am aware of the many serious financial constraints on the Department, particularly on the capital spend. I welcome the many good income-generation ideas from the Department. However, the draft departmental budget on transport is a departure from previous priorities. It is a backward step on the Department’s policies, especially on sustainable transport, public transport reform and rural and community transport. Investment in roads takes the majority of the available money to the detriment of an integrated, inclusive public transport system; a disproportionate 86% of the Department’s capital budget goes towards roads. Some of it could have been redirected to railways for new trains, for example. Such capital expenditure could reduce environmental impact. Of the total roads allocation, 70% is going to two projects: the A5 and the A8. The scale of those schemes means that there is no scope for allocation towards other necessary major road schemes, such as the A6 and the York Street flyover. Reducing the subsidy for Translink is unwise at a time when many Northern Ireland households, due to the recession and rising fuel costs, may look to sell the family car and depend on public transport. Added to that is the reduction in investment in community-led alternative transport solutions. The impact, I am afraid, will be far reaching. The potential for an increase in —

Mr Callaghan: I thank the Member for giving way. The Member referred to the A6 project.

If I picked her up correctly, she is suggesting that, in the face of budgetary constraints, many families are selling their cars and depending more and more on public transport. Although that might be the case, is the Member aware of the widespread dismay in the north-west at the draft Budget, which would mean, for example, that the A6 Derry to Dungiven upgrade will, in effect, fall off the table until after this Budget period, with hugely adverse consequences for the economy and society in the north-west of the North?

Ms Lo: I thank the Member for his intervention. Yes, I hear what he is saying. Increased fares and a decrease in services will force people into cars and will do nothing to stop pollution and congestion or to support sustainability. Many people who do not have access to cars or who do not drive face escalating social exclusion because they will no longer be able to access trains or buses. However, due to cuts to community transport and elsewhere, they will have no alternative. Surely, cuts to public and rural transport go against the long-term vision for transport in Northern Ireland, which is to have a modern, sustainable and safe transportation system that benefits society, the economy and the environment and that actively contributes to social inclusion and everyone’s quality of life.

Such drastic cuts to public transport will do nothing to improve sustainability or benefit the environment because, as a result of declining service levels and price rises, car drivers will not be incentivised to give up their cars. The pathetic amount of funding to develop pedestrian walkways and cycle lanes will discourage active travel, which has tremendous cost-benefit gains, whereas building roads results in much lower financial gains.

Sadly, public transport cuts will have an obvious and far-reaching effect on the most vulnerable in our society, namely, older people, disabled people, young people, women, and the unemployed. All are less likely to have access to private transport and, therefore, they depend on public transport. Any reduction in unprofitable routes could cause those groups to be cut off entirely, resulting in serious levels of social exclusion.

Transport impacts on all aspects of our life. Where it is limited or not available, there is a negative impact on all aspects of life, making it difficult to access employment, healthcare and education. Given the financial climate, there is a clear need for joined-up thinking, to find new solutions to transport problems. The Health Department, the Department of Education and the Department for Regional Development need to work together to conduct a cross-departmental review of all transport expenditure in order to identify potential for sharing resources. Education and library boards  have buses that are idle during evenings and weekends. If those buses were to be shared with the health sector and used for public transport, there is potential for a very effective public transport system. Sharing resources creates clever and innovative solutions without the need to invest in capital purchases, saving money for the three Departments while improving access for all. Cuts to the transport programme for people with disabilities and to the rural transport fund will lead to an increase in rural isolation, exclusion and deprivation by the end of the Budget term. Reducing the RTF by £1·7 million will, alone, result in as much as a 30% reduction in passenger trips; a small amount of money, but a huge impact on people. Funding reductions in the Shopmobility scheme and door-to-door services will limit access to transport for disabled and older people, further increasing their social isolation.

Northern Ireland Assembly Friday 18 December 2009

Written Answers to Questions

A5 Western Transport Corridor

Mr A Bresland asked the Minister for Regional Development how much his Department has paid, to date, to Mouchel consultants in relation to their work on the proposed A5 Western Transport Corridor; and what is the anticipated total payment.

(AQW 3219/10)

Minister for Regional Development:

My Department’s Roads Service has advised that Mouchel were appointed to the A5 project in October 2007, and provide professional advice to Roads Service on a wide range of issues including engineering, environmental, economic and traffic aspects of the scheme.

Roads Service has to date paid Mouchel £15,583,276, in relation to development work completed to date, on the A5 Western Transport Corridor project. It is anticipated that they will be paid around £32m under their current commission, which extends to the end of the Public Inquiry phase.

If a successful outcome is obtained at Public Inquiry, it is anticipated that further costs to completion of the project, would be in the order of £15-£20 million.

A5 Western Transport Corridor

Mr A Bresland asked the Minister for Regional Development if tractors and self-propelled agricultural machinery will have access to the proposed A5 Western Transport Corridor when it is completed.

(AQW 3395/10)

Minister for Regional Development:

My Department’s Roads Service has advised that tractors and self-propelled agricultural vehicles will have access to the A5 Western Transport Corridor on completion of the proposed upgrade to dual carriageway standard. However, access to the new carriageway will only be available at a limited number of key junctions along its 86 kilometre length, with no direct access from adjacent lands. Therefore, it is envisaged that, when this scheme is completed, local agricultural traffic will continue to use the existing A5 carriageway, which provides more convenient access to the local road network and farmlands.

Minister for Regional Development:

The estimated costs of these two major road schemes are as follows:-

1. The A5 Western Transport Corridor project, which comprises 86 km of dual carriageway from Derry to Aughnacloy, is the largest single road scheme ever undertaken across the island of Ireland. The current estimate for this scheme is in the range £650-£850 million.

Whilst the cost of a rail link as an alternative to the proposed A5 Western Transport Corridor has not been financially estimated, benchmarking information shows it would have very significant capital and revenue consequences and is not considered affordable or likely to meet economic appraisal criteria at this time. Nevertheless I am content to consider any future studies if and when they come forward.

The planned investment in public transport by the Department for Regional Development in the North of Ireland, over the next ten years, is set out in the Investment Delivery Plan which is published on the Strategic Investment Board’s website. Development of overall railway infrastructure was considered in the course of the production of the business case, completed in August 2007, for the New Trains Two Programme. This followed from the work of an inter-departmental group established in September 2006 which considered options for future investment in the railways network here. My priority currently is to maintain, improve and upgrade existing railway lines in the region.

With regard to the assessment of the rail link being a viable alternative to a road development, the A5 was identified as one of five Key Transport Corridors in the North within the Regional Strategic Transport Network Plan 2015. This plan was developed to support both the Regional Development Strategy 2025 and the Regional Transportation Strategy 2002-2012. All of these documents can be viewed at the following web addresses:-

http://roadimprovements.roadsni.gov.uk/rstn_tp.pdf - Regional Strategic Transport Network Plan 2015;

http://www.drdni.gov.uk/index/publications/publications-details.htm?docid=308 - Regional Development Strategy 2025; and

http://www.drdni.gov.uk/Transport_Planning.htm - Regional Transportation Strategy 2002-2012.

A5 Western Transport Corridor

Mr A Bresland asked the Minister for Regional Development what the estimated cost is of each of the four proposed options for the route of the A5 Western Transport Corridor.

(AQW 3232/10)

Minister for Regional Development:

My Department’s Roads Service has advised that because of the scale of the project and the number of possible route options, the scheme was split into three sections to assist the assessment process. Section 1 runs from New Buildings to the south of Strabane, Section 2 runs from the south of Strabane to the south of Omagh and Section 3 runs from the south of Omagh to Aughnacloy. The estimated costs of the four routes within each of the three sections are outlined in the table below.

I announced The Preferred Route in July 2009, which is a combination of parts of the routes in the table above. In Section 1 the Preferred Route is estimated to cost £383 million, in Section 2 the Preferred Route is estimated to cost £385 million and in Section 3 the Preferred Route is estimated to cost £342 million.

It must be emphasised that these cost estimates were used for comparative purposes, and that economy is only one of the criteria used in determining the Preferred Route. The other criteria are safety, environment, integration and accessibility, in accordance with Department for Transport guidance.

After consideration of risk, as well as the efficiencies and savings which materialise as the scheme design develops, the estimated cost of the Preferred Route was subsequently adjusted to the range of £650 million - £850 million.

North/South Ministerial Council Plenary Meeting

Ministerial Statements

Northern Ireland Assembly debates, 18 January 2010

Martina Anderson:

The A5 Aughnacloy to Derry road is of strategic importance for the greater north-west, including Donegal. The campaigners who oppose the A5 road network established what was called a fighting fund and called the project a pipe dream. Will the Minister assure the Assembly that that campaign will not impact on the work that he has outlined today, which is already in place, and will he also give an assurance that that work will continue unabated?

Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin)

At the NSMC plenary meeting, we welcomed the good progress made on the A5 and A8 road projects. Development of the A5 project has been good, with the first key milestone, the completion of the preliminary route corridor assessment, achieved ahead of target. On 21 July last year, Ministers Murphy and Dempsey announced the preferred route. Progress remains good and on target to meet the next key milestone: the publication of the draft Orders later this year. Contractor designers were appointed in December 2009.

Importantly, in view of the debate on the economic situation North and South, the Irish Government have reaffirmed their commitment to the funding for both the A5 and A8 projects. A payment of €9 million, the first tranche of the Irish Government’s contribution, was made in December last year.

Those are two vital road projects. The A8 runs along the eastern corridor. It is the road from Belfast to Larne, and it is critical to the road infrastructure. The road must be developed to match the quality of the roads that now exist in the South, particularly those that run from the border to Dublin.

It is imperative that the A5 road project go ahead. I understand that some landowners will have concerns, but they will have opportunities to make enquiries and raise those concerns. However, let nobody be in any doubt whatsoever that those two vital projects — the Belfast to Larne project and the Aughnacloy to the north-west gateway project — will go ahead. They are vital for us if we are to develop the economy and a road infrastructure that will allow us to attract inward investment.