A court ruling that a long-awaited upgrade to the A5 should not go ahead is to be appealed, the North’s Minister for Infrastructure has said.
Sinn Féin MLA Liz Kimmins said improving the road is a priority and she will “ensure we get this road built, and get it built in the shortest possible time”.
In June, the High Court ruled the proposed scheme breached elements of climate change legislation.
The judge acknowledged the decision would bring “fresh anguish” to bereaved families, but he said the project did not demonstrate how it would comply with Stormont’s commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and therefore could not proceed.
RM Block
The upgrade of the A5, which runs from Derry to the Border at Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, and connects the north-west to Dublin, was first announced in 2007. It has been mired in delays and legal challenges.
Since then more than 50 people have lost their lives on the road.
The £1.2 billion (€1.4 billion) upgrade was approved in October, but judicial review proceedings challenging the scheme were later brought against the Department for Infrastructure by applicants including residents, farmers and landowners.
The judge acknowledged it was “likely that delays in the progression of this scheme will coincide with the occurrence of further loss of life and serious injury on the existing road”, but he said the decision to proceed “must be taken in accordance with the law”.
Campaigners, including the A5 Enough is Enough group, have warned that further delays will cost lives and have called for the project to proceed as soon as possible.
Speaking to reporters in Ballygawley, Co Tyrone, Ms Kimmins said the judge’s decision “was the very first test of the [Climate Change] Act and officials are … looking at how we can rectify that.
“We are looking at everything here and an appeal is our first step.”
In a statement, the DUP MLA Deborah Erskine said an appeal would “inevitably take time” and it was “unclear” how the appeal would address “climate targets supported by Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party and the SDLP”.
“These targets were a key factor in the project being blocked by the court, and unless those parties act to resolve the consequences of their own policies, they risk holding up not just the A5 but a range of vital infrastructure projects.”
She said the “reality is that work on the A5 is not going to commence any time soon … and the Minister should also be looking urgently at what other steps can be taken now to make the A5 safer for all road users, and how to deal fairly with landowners".
—Additional reporting PA.
