TUV Leader detects politics in farm-destroying road schemes
05 December 2009
Statement by Jim Allister QC:-
“The wanton ease with which Roads Service sets about dissecting working farms in pursuit of its schemes is such that it is clear ‘farm proofing’ such proposals never enters their head. When politics drives forward road schemes, then the result is even less fair and acceptable.
“Two schemes at present are deserving of critical comment: the A5 and the Dungiven by-pass.
“The A5, upon which there has been no business plan prepared nor economic appraisal conducted, is being pushed ahead, not because of meeting a prioritised need, but to headline a cross-border project. The A5 project has more to do with opening up speedy access to Donegal than finding the best way to meet local needs. Hence, the steamroller approach of the department under Sinn Fein minister, Murphy. If set beside competing demands for upgrades; judged by normal traffic facts and requirements, the A5 would not have the priority accorded to it. For example, the A26, north of the Ballycastle junction cries out for improvement: it carries 15,727 vehicles per day; the usage between Omagh and Ballygawley peaks at 12,235 vehicles per day, yet the A 5 has been made the priority. Why?
“More than that, other road schemes have to make do with improvements to existing infrastructure, but with the A5 it’s the maximum land grab in order to provide what amounts to a road of motorway standard. I do not see why the best of working farms, which have been the livelihoods of families for generations, have to be sacrificed to give travellers from Dublin swift transport to Donegal, particularly when no business case has been presented to justify such. When politics drives such matters then the result is frequently flawed.
“Thus farmers on the A5 have my full support in their unequal struggle against the political forces of the Executive lined up against them.
“Likewise, I am appalled by the route suggested for the Dungiven bypass. Here a wider sweep around the town than necessary has been taken, resulting in the truncating of several farms. Is this in order to avoid the more direct route which would disrupt the GAA facilities? I suspect it is and that, again, the political direction of the department is playing its part in choosing to destroy some Protestant farms in order to preserve the GAA facilities. This is not how it should be.”
