Press Release – Shelving of N2 Slane Bypass Welcomed by Campaigners

Posted on November 30, 2010 by vincent

SAVE NEWGRANGE – PRESS RELEASE – Monday, 29 November 2010

‘Shelving of N2 Slane Bypass Welcomed by Campaigners’

Save Newgrange welcomes the shelving of the N2 Slane bypass, and is calling for the An Bord Pleanala planning process to be cancelled. The N2 Slane bypass was not included in the Four Year Budget Plan, released on Wednesday, 24 November. However, An Bord Pleanala has since indicated that it is proceeding with an oral hearing, as part of the planning process.  An Bord Pleanala has stated that the proposed oral hearing will take place some time early in the New Year; probably “next February”. However, if planning permission is granted, after the hearing, it will be over four years before construction can begin. This will mean that planning permission will be out of date.

The upgrading of the N2 Ashbournce to Ardee section of the N2 has already been shelved, so it doesn’t make any sense to continue with this section in the middle as a stand-alone 3.5km dual carriageway. Over 100 objections have been filed against the bypass, including evidence from leading archaeologist, Professor George Eogan, that the proposed route will result in the loss of World Heritage statue for Newgrange (Bru na Boinne).  Evidence that ESRI economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth has deemed the bypass an “idiotic” waste of taxpayers money has also been submitted to the board.

Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange said:

“There is no point in proceeding with a lengthy and expensive planning hearing if there is no money to build the road.  It is outrageous that we will be forced to spend time and money attending a lengthy oral hearing, with expert witnesses, if all of the data being used will be out of date in four years.  We are calling on the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, and the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, to immediately reign in the NRA and Meath County Council, and end this farce.

ENDS

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Funding NI A5 Upgrade and Slane Bypass not a Priority for Labour Party

Posted on November 18, 2010 by vincent

Dublin to Derry road

SAVE NEWGRANGE – PRESS RELEASE – 18 November 2010

“Funding NI A5 Upgrade and Slane Bypass not a Priority for Labour Party”

The Labour Party has cast doubt over whether it will keep the promise made by the current Government to give £400 (€500m) to the Northern Ireland Executive to upgrade the A5/M2, Dublin to Derry Road, which also includes the Slane bypass. The promise was made at the time of the Belfast Agreement, and has been renewed by Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey.

Public consultation on what would be the biggest road ever built in Northern Ireland began yesterday with the publication of the Environmental Statement for the A5 dual carriageway, to be built from the N2/Border to Derry, and on to Letterkenny. The deadline for public comment closes 21 January 2011.

Labour Transport Spokesman, Joe Costello, TD, responded yesterday to a pre-Budgetary survey by Save Newgrange, saying:

“Ireland is in the worst recession in the history of the State. Spending one billion euro on a new road from Dublin to Derry including a €400 million spend in Northern Ireland will certainly not be a priority for the Labour Party while essentials such as health and education are being savagely cut.

“The Labour Party has made it clear that we will be revisiting the National Development Plan and Transport 21 in the context of the present state of the public finances. A realistic cost benefit analysis will be applied to every project.

“Moreover we are reviewing the entire Transport policy with a new emphasis on urban and rural public transport.

Tom Elliot, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader, yesterday told The Belfast Telegraph:

“It would seem from the latest communiqué of the North-South Ministerial Council that ministers have agreed a payment schedule for the project, but I still consider that this amount of money would be better spent on other important projects in the health and education sectors.

“I share the views of many of the people on both sides of the border that the project should be scaled down to a more modest version — this could be achieved at a fraction of the cost.”

Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange said:

“We welcome Labour’s response to the pres-budgetary survey and their promise to perform a new cost/benefit analysis on the Slane bypass and the A5 upgrade.

“We will be updating our EU Complaint, on the basis that there should have been cross-border public consultation for both ends of this single ‘transboundary project’.

“It is very telling that the Green Party and Fine Gael both declined to respond to the pre-budgetary survey.

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS: A pre-budgetary survey was sent to all of the political parties on Thursday, 11 November, and responses were to be returned by 5.00pm yesterday, 17 November. The Labour Party was the only party to respond. The complete survey is available at www.savenewgrange.org.

MORE INFORMATION:

A5 Western Transport Corridor – Environmental Statement

Belfast Telegraph: It’s time to scale back £844m road, urges UUP leader

Posted in A5 Western Transport Corridor, Economic Argument, Environmental Impact Statement, N2 Monaghan bypass, News, Northern Ireland, Public Consultation, Save Newgrange | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pre-budgetary survey about Dublin to Derry road spending sent to political parties

Posted on November 11, 2010 by vincent

SAVE NEWGRANGE

PRESS RELEASE

11 November 2010

‘Pre-budgetary Survey About Dublin to Derry Road Spending Sent to all Political Parties’

Save Newgrange has sent a pre-budgetary survey, asking questions about the Slane bypass and the proposed M2/A5 Dublin to Derry upgrade, to all of the major political parties. They have been given until 5.00pm on  Wednesday 17 Nov to respond, and the results will be made public on Thursday, 18th Nov.

The survey asks for the parties position on the route of the Slane bypass as well as questions about the larger Dublin to Derry road upgrade scheme, including:

- Funding of €50/100m Slane bypass
- Funding of €500m for the A5 Western Transport Corridor to be given to NI
- Funding of €300m for the N2 Clontibret to the Border and Monaghan bypass

Save Newgrange spokesman, Vincent Salafia, said:

“Voters need to know where all the parties stand on the funding for the Slane bypass, and its parent scheme – the billion euro M2/A5 upgrade.

“The Opposition parties are also being offered an opportunity to give their position on the routing of the Slane bypass, 500m from Bru na Boinne World Heritage Site.

“We hope to the Green Party, in particular, will respond to the survey, given the high level number of local and environmental groups who are opposed to this road, both North and South.

ENDS

Contact – Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365

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Meath Chronicle: Survey finds ancient earthworks near Slane bypass route

Posted on October 14, 2010 by vincent

Aerial view of the site of the Rossnaree Enclosure, Brú na Bóinne, Co. Meath. The site is in the stubble field in the middle of the picture. The enclosure at the bottom is a smaller Early Medieval site.

Survey finds ancient earthworks near Slane bypass route

Meath Chronicle – Wednesday, 13th October, 2010 4:52pm – Profile by Ann Casey

An archaeological survey commissioned by former Attorney General John Rogers, SC, as part of his objection to an N2 bypass running east of Slane has found a previously unrecorded “impressively large earthwork”, believed to be part of the outer defences of an early medieval royal stronghold at Knowth. The survey, carried out by archaeologists Joe Fenwick, Gerard Dowling and Roseanne Schot of the Brú na Bóinne Research Project, has been submitted to An Bórd Pleanála as additional information as part of its consideration of plans for the proposed bypass.

The earthwork was said to have been found at Crewbane, near the home of Mr Rogers. It was prompted by the discovery in 2007 of a souterrain in Crewbane, at the perimiter of ther Brú na Bóinne UNESCO work heritage site ‘buffer zone’ 2km east of Slane village and 1km from the prehistoric passage tomb of Knowth. The archaeologists said that “this impressively large earthwork” is not recorded in the Sites and Monuments Record for County Meath.

“It is apparent that the Crewbane souterrain is not an isolated archaeological monument in the landscape, but one element in a complex of archaeological features situated on and around this prominent ridge overlooking the river Boyne. These include a second and possibly third potential souterrain, a substantial linear embankment, a circular enclosure (of) 40m in diameter (a possible ring fort), a relict field system and associated open settlement of possible medieval or early modern date,” they reported.

Mr Fenwick has suggested that the “only realistic option” for the traffic problem in Slane was to ban heavy goods vehicles entirely from the village and provide an east-west corridor to the north of Slane, to redirect this traffic towards “the new and under-utilised” M1 and M3 motorways. The consultations with An Bórd Pleanála end this Friday.

Meanwhile, the Save Newgrange campaign has brought its fight against the proposed Slane bypass to the North-South Ministerial Council. The group has complained to An Bord Pleanala and the North-South Ministerial Council that the public consultation process for the bypass is in breach of the Belfast Agreement, because the consultation does not extend to Northern Ireland. They say that the road proposal is in breach of EU environmental law, which provides for transboundary consultation, where the project is of a transboundary nature.

Spokesman Vincent Salafia said that the N2 Slane Bypass was part of the plan to link the A5/M2 motorway between Dublin and Derry, which is being funded as part of the Belfast Agreement. Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, has committed €500,000 to the Northern Ireland authorities for construction of the A5 and other roads under the agreement.

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Irish Times: Earthwork ‘could have been part of Unesco heritage site’

Posted on October 12, 2010 by vincent

The Irish Times – Tuesday, October 12, 2010
FRANK McDONALD Environment Editor

A PREVIOUSLY unrecorded “impressively large earthwork” – believed to be part of the outer defences of an early medieval royal stronghold at Knowth, in the Boyne Valley – has been identified by an archaeological survey. The survey, commissioned by former attorney general John Rogers SC, has been submitted to An Bord Pleanála as additional information as part of its consideration of plans for an N2 bypass running east of Slane, Co Meath.

Carried out by archaeologists Joe Fenwick, Gerard Dowling and Roseanne Schot of the Brú na Bóinne Research Project, the survey found the earthwork at Crewbane, near the home of Mr Rogers, who is objecting to the bypass. It was prompted by the discovery in 2007 of a souterrain in Crewbane, at the perimeter of the Brú na Bóinne Unesco world heritage site “buffer zone” 2km east of Slane village and 1km from the prehistoric passage tomb of Knowth.

“This impressively large earthwork is not recorded in the Sites and Monuments record for Co Meath,” the archaeologists say. It presents a “massive facade” when approached uphill from the south, averaging 4m in height and extends over a distance of 23m. “It is apparent that the Crewbane souterrain is not an isolated archaeological monument in the landscape, but one element in a complex of archaeological features situated on and around this prominent ridge overlooking the river Boyne. “These include a second and possibly third potential souterrain, a substantial linear embankment, a circular enclosure [of] 40m in diameter [a possible ring fort], a relict field system and associated open settlement of possible medieval or early modern date . . . ”

They speculate that the complex “might have served as a defensive outpost protecting the western flanks of the royal stronghold at Knowth”, saying it was “unfortunate” that it straddles the western boundary of the Unesco world heritage site buffer zone.  “It is likely, however, that had this complex been known at the time the world heritage site perimeter was being drafted, its influence would have extended its perimeter somewhat further to the west and northwest,” Mr Fenwick has told An Bord Pleanála.

In a letter to the board, he acknowledged that an alternative route of the bypass running west of Slane would also have a large number of “significant impacts” on the archaeological, architectural and cultural heritage of the area, including Slane Castle demesne. Mr Fenwick suggested that the “only realistic option” was to ban heavy goods vehicles entirely from the village and provide an east-west corridor to the north of Slane, to redirect this traffic towards “the new and underutilised” M1 and M3 motorways.

The consultations end on Friday.

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Meath Chronicle | Letter to the editor: The facts on the Slane bypass

Posted on October 2, 2010 by vincent

The facts on the Slane bypass
Meath Chronicle | Letter to the editor | Wednesday, 29th September, 2010

Dear sir – The Bypass Slane Campaign (BSC) has repeatedly accused ‘commentators’ of being ‘ill-informed’, and spreading ‘misinformation’. So, let’s deal with the critical facts here, regarding the proposed Slane bypass.

The first fact is that it has been Meath County Council, acting as agents of the National Roads Authority (NRA), who have proven themselves lacking in the information department. That is why An Bord Pleanala forced them to publish additional information, and re-open public consultation. Submissions can now be made to An Bord Pleanala until 15th October. All the previously withheld information on the proposed bypass, including; the western route options; the potential impact on Brú na Bóinne; archaeological reports on the 44 impacted sites; and the relationship of the bypass to the N2 Ashbourne to Ardee project, is now available on the Meath County Council web site. Even the original Environmental Impact Statement, which was not available on their web site during the original consultation, is now available for download.

The second fact is that while the Fianna Fail leaders of BSC, Thomas Byrne TD and Cllr Wayne Harding have attacked ESRI economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth, for calling the bypass proposal ‘idiotic’, the fact of the matter is that the NRA agreed with Dr Morgenroth and cancelled the Slane Bypass in May 2009, on economic grounds. In a letter delivered to councillors at a Slane Electoral Area meeting, reported in this paper, the NRA said that it needed to concentrate on a number of other national projects which are seen as being “particularly important for regional development”. Because of this, and the continued uncertainty regarding public finances, the NRA regretted that “it is not possible at this time to provide funding for the construction of the N2 Slane Bypass.”

The third fact is that the HGV ban was approved unanimously by Meath County Councillors in April 2009, and the County Manager, Tom Dowling, is under a legal duty to implement it, as he was told in the Transport Committee hearing last year. Residents of Slane, including the Ban HGVs from Slane campaign led by Carina Mount Charles, have campaigned and protested for years for a HGV ban in the village. The Minister for Transport, and Fianna Fail TD for Meath, Noel Dempsey, was even reported in this paper in 2009 as promising to “actively implement” the HGV ban. But the HGVs still roll through the village at an alarming rate, endangering lives every day.

The fourth fact is that a bypass of Slane has already been constructed, at a cost of over half a billion euros to the taxpayer. It is called the M1 motorway, and lies about five miles to the east of the village. It runs along the eastern boundary of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site, with a massive bridge over the Boyne, clearly visible from the Unesco site. Minister Dempsey and the Fianna Fail led BSC campaign would rather endanger lives in Slane on a daily basis than force the HGVs to use the road that was built for them, in order to unfairly pressurise An Bord Pleanala into approving a non-viable bypass, based on artificially inflated traffic volume.

Yours,

Vincent Salafia,
Save Newgrange,
Suite 108, The Capel Building,
Mary’s Abbey, Dublin 7.

Posted in Dr Edgar Morgenroth, Public Consultation, Save Newgrange, Vincent Salafia | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

PA Newswire, Ireland: Campaigners Fight Siting of Bypass Near Historical Sites

Posted on September 23, 2010 by vincent

Campaigners Fight Siting of Bypass Near Historical Sites

PA Newswire: Ireland – September 16, 2010 Thursday 5:51 PM BST
BYLINE: Sarah Stack, Press Association

Campaigners tonight vowed to rally opinion against a controversial bypass after planners ordered a council to reopen public consultations. The Save Newgrange group said the move was a victory for those against proposals to run the N2 Slane bypass close to historical sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth in Co Meath. Meath County Council confirmed it was told by An Bord Pleanala to reopen the public consultations after additional information was requested on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Compulsory Purchase Order.

Vincent Salafia, of Save Newgrange, revealed the group had complained the EIS and public consultation were flawed.  “This is a victory for the public, who were not given the full information in relation to this grandiose proposal, and yet who are expected to foot the bill,” he said.  “We will be waging an international campaign, over the next month, particularly in Northern Ireland to get as many objections has possible filed with An Bord Pleanala.” Activists claim the road – proposed to run 500m from the Bru na Boinne heritage site – will impact over 44 associated archaeological sites, as well as a candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Mr Salafia said he hopes more experts will now make submissions against the scheme.

In a statement, Meath County Council said the new consultation was based on the additional information it furnished to An Bord Pleanala in July.  “As expected, they have now informed us that they consider that the further information supplied contains significant additional data and that the public should be afforded the opportunity to comment on it,” it said. “Provision for this process is made in the Roads Act 1993 and the further information supplied will assist the board in its deliberations on the proposed development.” Notices are due to appear in local and national newspapers in the coming days

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Roads to nowhere? The Irish Times | Motors

Posted on September 23, 2010 by vincent

Roads to nowhere?

The Irish Times – Motors – Wednesday, September 22, 2010

KILIAN DOYLE

REARVIEW:  Recent history shows the Government, perhaps in thrall to its builder chums, has displayed a voracious appetite for construction. This green and pleasant land is now criss-crossed with new motorways and dual carriageways. In the last year alone, the M3, the M9 and the remedial works on the M50 have been completed. Our state-of-the-art road network is now the envy of many a country and with some justification, many argue that it is among the few legacies of the boom years that we can be proud of. The statistics also show that such roads are the safest routes on which to drive.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Government is planning to build even more. A brief perusal of the National Roads Authority (NRA) website shows a huge number of projects are in the preliminary stages of development, including the M11 in Wexford as well as routes from Cork to Limerick; Monaghan to Tyrone; and Meath to Louth.

But in these penurious times, with our record unemployment, burgeoning emigration and crumbling health service, is it time to call a halt to embarking on fresh building projects that we can ill-afford?

The NRA is keen to stress that it is planning for the future. But their own statistics show that traffic has fallen 7 per cent over the last two years and there is little evidence to suggest that this trend will be reversed any time soon.

What’s the point in having gold-plated ghost roads in 30 years time when there’s nobody left to drive on them?

Surely it would be more sensible to concentrate on upgrading the hundreds of dangerous, unkempt existing secondary roads where the vast majority of fatalities occur rather than building more and more highways that run the real risk of becoming white elephants reminding us for generations to come of our profligacy.

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Londonderry Sentinel | Road lobbyists team up with southern counterparts

Posted on September 23, 2010 by vincent

Transport 21 map – Click to enlarge

Road lobbyists team up with southern counterparts

Londonderry Sentinel | 23 September 2010

A LOBBY group opposing the proposed A5 Western Transport Corridor (WTC) between Londonderry and Aughnacloy has teamed up with campaigners in Monaghan and Meath to oppose what it terms “ghost roads” on both sides of the border. Three campaign groups – the Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A), Save Newgrange (SN) and Don’t By the Bypass (DBTB) – working on different sections of the proposed M2/A5 motorway, which will eventually run from Dublin to Londonderry, have now joined force

AA5A is challenging the need for the upgrade of the A5 primary route, from the border to Londonderry, which at 55 miles will be the longest single road project ever undertaken in Northern Ireland. Authorities on both sides of the border are planning this section of the road together, and the Irish Government has committed to pay for a share of it.

Lynne Smyth, Secretary of the Alternative A5 Alliance said: “The Alternative A5 Alliance is delighted to be able to cooperate with the other campaign groups along the route of this proposed road. Together we must alert the people of Ireland to the catastrophe these ‘ghost roads’ will cause. “This is not the time to be tarmacing over our farmland and natural habitat. It is time to seek a sustainable transport option which will serve our future needs as well as that of our grandchildren – as they will be paying for it.

Noel Murphy, a spokesman for Don’t Bypass the Bypass, said: “Its great to be working in co-operation with the other groups, and we need to remain so going forward.”

Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange said: “We are delighted to have North-South co-operation between our community groups along the proposed M2/A5. The people of Northern Ireland should have a say in what happens to the Brú na Bóinne Unesco World Heritage Site, since they are being asked to pay for part of the road that will severely impact it. We welcome the intervention of Dr Edgar Morgenroth, associate economist with the ESRI, who said the N2 plans are ‘idiocy,’ and called for the HGV ban to be implemented in Slane. Minister Dempsey must act now to both save lives in Slane, and stop wasting taxpayers’ money on ‘ghost roads’.”

Posted in A5 Western Transport Corridor, N2 Monaghan bypass, News, Northern Ireland, Vincent Salafia | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Meath Chronicle | Information on Slane Bypass now on display

Posted on September 22, 2010 by vincent

Information on Slane Bypass now on display

Meath Chronicle | Wednesday, 22nd September, 2010
Profile by Ann Casey

Additional information on the proposed Slane Bypass is now on public display, following a request earlier this year from An Bord Pleanala for further information on the scheme. The information is on display in County Hall in Navan, Meath County Council’s Road Design office at Navan Enterprise Centre and at the Civic Offices at Main Street, Duleek, until 15th October. Submissions on the scheme must be forwarded to An Bord Pleanala by 15th October.

Cllr Wayne Harding said the proposal for the Slane Bypass could only be enhanced with public input and the more information that is available to people, the better. “People will now have the opportunity to make submissions to An Bord Pleanala as the public information requested by them will go on display until 15th October,” he said. “It is vital that we get the best possible bypass for Slane as it will have a huge impact on the village and the wider Boyne Valley area.” Cllr Harding pointed out that the people of Slane had campaigned long and hard for the bypass, so it was essential that it is progressed without delay. “The safety issues are well documented with the dangers of heavy vehicles going through the village very evident. A bypass would give peace of mind to residents and visitors to the village, but would also benefit local business as additional people would be encouraged to travel to the village in the absence of congestion and dangerous roads. This is another step on the way to the most important piece of infrastructure that Slane village has had since its foundation 250 years ago,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Save Newgrange campaign welcomed the new public consultation for the N2 Slane bypass. Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange said: “This is a victory for the public who were not given the full information in relation to this grandiose proposal, and yet who are expected to foot the bill. “We will be waging an international campaign over the next month, particularly in Northern Ireland, to get as many objections has possible filed with An Bord Pleanala. Dr Edgar Morgenroth of the ESRI has called this plan an ‘idiotic’ waste of taxpayer’s money, and we hope more experts like him will make now make submissions. “In the meantime, we are demanding that Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, keep his promise to ‘actively facilitate’ the HGV ban in Slane, which was unanimously voted for by county councillors in April 2009,” Mr Salafia added.

WRITE LETTER TO EDITOR ken@meathchronicle.ie

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