Northern Ireland’s legal system is being abused by “vexatious” challenges to development, Stormont minister for enterprise Arlene Foster has declared.
The construction of the A5 road, which is to be partly funded by the Irish Government, has been held up by a judicial review by local landowners who oppose the project.
Saying that planning problems were “a particular frustration”, Ms Foster said most major projects in the North were now “inevitably” challenged.
Sinn Féin West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty, speaking at an event organised by CHAMP, a Northern peace and reconciliation group, held on the margins of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, agreed.
“I absolutely and totally agree. The planning system is totally chaotic. Its seems to set its face against development.” Other infrastructure and construction projects were also affected by legal challenges taken by developers “trying to stop the other guy”.
