Environment Minister lands in a bunker

21 February 2012

What about building a golf resort beside the Giant's Causeway World Heritage site? Equally unthinkable? The Environment Minister doesn't agree.

On 21st February Alex Attwood announced he would approve the development of a new golf resort on a 365 acre site, with a hotel, guest villas, practice range, a spa, golf academy, and an 18-hole golf course at Runkerry, between Bushmills and the Causeway.

The Giant's Causeway is Northern Ireland's only World Heritage Site. UNESCO, the organisation that designates World Heritage Site status, has recommended, 'a clearly defined buffer zone be identified with the main objectives to protect the integrity of the World Heritage site.' The new resort will lie within the buffer zone.

Not only will the resort threaten World Heritage Site status, it may also be in breach of Northern Ireland planning policy. It abounds the Runkerry Area of Special Scientific Interest; it is close to the North Antrim Coast Special Area of Conservation; the site lies within the Causeway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the proposed Bushfoot Local Landscape Policy Area and is within a Countryside Policy Area. The proposed shopping development on the site may well constitute an out-of-town shopping centre and would therefore be in breach of Planning Policy Statement 5.

Planning policies for that area are very clear - the landscape around the Giants Causeway should be protected. But it seems having global importance is no protection. The precedent set today is that our most special places are up for grabs.

The Minister is apparently a keen golfer himself. I wonder what his handicap is. I suggest his handicap is the presumption in favour of development in the planning system.