A SOUTH Down MLA has renewed his call for the Mourne Mountain Gateway Project to be scrapped. Patrick Brown, a vocal opponent of the scheme, this week said that the estimated cost is rising sharply. The Alliance Assembly member has revealed that the Department for the Economy (DfE) confirmed to him last November that the controversial gondola scheme above Newcastle would cost an additional £6m.
Mr Brown claims the near £50m now required to pay for the project was not declared to Newry, Mourne and Down councillors. The Alliance representative said he believes this additional £6m required, according to the government evaluation, is another reason why the project is a non-runner. Detailed plans for the gateway project were disclosed by council early last year. At the time it was estimated 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. Now Mr Brown has, again, called for a major rethink as to how the money should be used as well as raising questions about why the revised costings have not been shared with elected representatives on the council. He said it was common knowledge that the cited £44m was going to increase, as the estimation dates from five years ago.
He argues there should be an urgent reconsideration of the project. He explained that late last month it emerged that elected representatives were advised that some projects aimed at regenerating the Derry and Strabane area were being reassessed because of rising costs; and that some of the scheme earmarked for the north-west may have to be modified or combined due to the impact of inflation. The South Down MLA believes there is a need for an even more intense re-evaluation of how the local city deal funding should be used. He has also queried why the local council has also not yet formally delivered an outline business case to Tourism NI.
Tourism NI is the lead agency tasked with signing off and unlocking £30m in central funding for the project to build the gondola ride from Donard Park in Newcastle. Mr Brown added that a letter from DfE states the £30m will not automatically be lost if the gondola plan is scrapped, or changed substantially. The cable-car style proposal would see people transported along the slopes of the mountains to a visitor centre, which would be located at the now disused Thomas Quarry. The council has previously emphasised its desire to “deliver a world-class tourist attraction that will support the sustainable regional growth of tourism in Northern Ireland and help to position Newry, Mourne and Down as one of the premier tourism destinations on the Island of Ireland”. The project, according to council’s website, ‘will provide major enhancements to the visitor experience in and around the Mournes, whilst protecting and enhancing the natural heritage and habitat of the region’. It also confirmed that a £200 million package of investment is coming to the district through Belfast Region City Deal funding – for projects based on tourism, regeneration, and innovation. Other projects benefitting include Newry City Centre Regeneration and the Newry Southern Relief Road. The website also states that The Mourne Mountains Gateway Project ‘is potentially transformative for Newcastle and Newry, Mourne and Down.’ However, Mr Brown has reiterated his fellow Alliance members’ concerns and those of opponents of the project, who believe Newcastle, and in particular its natural environment and infrastructure, could not cope with the projected visitor numbers the council has said the gondola could bring. “The Department have now confirmed with me that they sent the update costings for the gondola project to council on the 13th November. Council have now been sitting on this information for almost three months, all while planning a rate increase! “This is a shocking example of the lack of transparency in our local council,” stated Mr Brown.
Demanding “transparency” as to “why is our council sitting on updated costs for the Newcastle Gondola Project,” Mr Brown continued: “Earlier this month, following a meeting in October, I wrote to the Department for Economy asking several questions about the Mourne Gateway Project, which seeks to spend over £40m of public money on a ‘gondola’ in Newcastle. “The Department shares responsibility for oversight of this council-led project with Tourism NI, as it involves funding of up to £30m from the Belfast Region City Deal, with any remaining cost to be made up by ratepayers. “I have now received a response to this letter, and believe this provides exclusive proof that not only have costs for the gondola project increased, but the council is failing to make elected members aware of these increased costs.” He continued: “I have asked the Department when these costs were provided to the council, and our councillors have asked the council how much they are. “These costs could be millions on top of the £43m already set aside for this project – an eye-watering amount which will fall entirely on ratepayers’ shoulders, and burden the council with debt for decades to come. “This comes at a time when the council is considering a significant rate increase, and plans to spend just under £2m next year on hiring a consultancy team to move the gondola project forward.
Yet councillors will be asked to sign up to this rate increase without knowing what the gondola project will cost. “Council have also failed to produce an addendum to their Outline Business Case for this project, which was requested by the Department around autumn last year and requires updated costs, an updated timeframe for delivery and a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Trust. “Elected members have not been sighted on any of these items, yet are still expected to sign off on spending almost £2m on this project next year,” he continued. “These decisions cannot go unchallenged, and whilst councillors in other parties seem content to sleepwalk into signing off on this financially reckless and environmentally damaging project, Alliance representatives will continue to ask questions and challenge on behalf of ratepayers”, the Alliance MLA concluded.