A FORMAL complaint has been lodged with the district council over its Mourne Mountains—- Gateway Project. Opponents of the proposal, and exactly a year on from plans were first revealed for the multimillion-pound scheme, claim Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has failed to properly engage with residents about the planned cablecar ride. Detailed plans for the gateway project were first made public by council in March 2023. At the time it was predicted the scheme would cost £44m – with the majority, £30m, coming from Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) funding while the council will pay the remainder, up to whatever the final cost. It has more recently been suggested that an extra £6m will be required to make the scheme, which the council has stated could attract in the region of 1,000 visitors per day, a reality.
Now the Mourne Gateway Info Group – an online body representing some 1,000 locals, the majority of whom have a range of concerns about the planned gondola – has submitted a formal complaint to council in relation to what it claims are “blatant” breaches of the code of conduct by which it is meant to operate. Opponents claim there has been a lack of openness and transparency. They say members of the public are rightly concerned that the gondola ride and visitor centre, at Thomas Quarry on the slopes of Slieve Donard, will be what they describe as “a failing project”, which will damage the environment.
They also argue that the money which has been earmarked for the scheme could and should be utilised better, and that these many millions are a wasted opportunity for “sensible” improvements – for the benefit of residents and tourists alike – to be carried out. Twelve months on from the plans first being revealed, the group says it has received “no communication whatsoever from the council” and that its e-mails to council officers, and to many councillors, “go unanswered”. “The council continues to spend millions of pounds of ratepayers’ money on a project that the public have had no meaningful say in,” the group claims. One of the campaign group’s founders, Geoff Ingram, said that since the information event in Newcastle, on 9 March last year, some of its members “began to harbour serious reservations” about the project’s “feasibility”. He said group members “include experts spanning diverse fields such as engineering, architecture, environmental science, finance, and law”.
Mr Ingram said concerns are from both a financial and an environmental standpoint. “There were many other problems, including the plan for only one park and ride facility near the Burrendale Hotel, which would cause a traffic logjam at Newcastle’s main roundabout. “With these and other problems in mind, we started an online running poll of our members as to their opinion of the Gateway Project (for or against) – the result has been consistent throughout the last year – 22% for and 78% against. “We believe that this forms an accurate representation of local opinion on this project, and, given the council’s lack of any consultation with ratepayers, is probably the only gauge of public support available,” he said. “We raised some of these concerns and submitted a written list of questions to the council at the information day, and were assured that we would be consulted every stage of the project and our questions would be answered.
“In April last year, we also created a letter of concern listing many of the problems we envisaged with the project which had been submitted by our members and mailed this to all councillors, political parties, MLAs, and one MP. “Since then, we have heard nothing whatsoever from the council and our e-mails and questions go unanswered. In the meantime, the council has continued to spend large amounts of ratepayers’ money (recently £3 million on consultants) without any consultation with the public.” He continued: “According to the Department of Finance, the cost of the project has spiralled by a further £6 million due to inflation, which has doubled the cost to ratepayers from £10 to £20 million so far, and will inevitably continue to increase substantially in the next few years. “The council has failed to pass any information regarding increased costs along to ratepayers who will be picking up the tab. “We believe that this lack of consultation and withholding of information of public interest is a breach of the code of conduct set out by the Local Government Association which states that: ‘Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner.
Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for doing so. Holders of public office should be truthful.’ “We have raised a formal complaint with the council on the basis that this council has failed to uphold its obligations to ratepayers and will continue to pursue this until we have some guarantee that NMDDC’s unwillingness to inform or consult ratepayers will be permanently resolved.”