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Council Watch Newry, Mourne and Down are calling for urgent reform in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council following the release of a damning environmental report that they claim exposed fatal flaws in the ill-fated Belfast Region City Deal Mourne Mountains Gateway gondola project.
They are calling on Councillors to withdraw their support for the current Council leadership.
The RSK 'Report for Environmental and Ecological Review of the Mourne Gateway Project' was commissioned by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council in June 2022 but the group claim it was deliberately concealed from elected councillors, the public and stakeholders for nearly three years leading to the waste of around £1.35 million of taxpayers’ money and putting £30 million of vital City Deal funding at risk.
A Council spokesperson in reply to a query from Newry.ie said the report was "shared with stakeholders in September 2022" but doesn't indicate if all or any Councillors were those 'stakeholders'. They also added that in open session at the September 2023 Strategy, Policy and Resources Committee "members were advised that the RSK report was available on request"
In 2022 the report was immediately placed under a Non-Disclosure Agreement and locked away with its release only happening after a two-year Freedom of Information battle. The released report states on the first page: "The information within this report is subject to the terms in a Non Disclosure Agreement and can only be shared with the express permission of the appointed representatives of Newry Mourne and Down District Council."
Council Watch claim it "confirms repeated allegations of secrecy, failed governance and total disregard for public accountability".
Culture of Secrecy
Geoff Ingram of Council Watch, who led the campaign to release the report, said the findings exposed a culture of secrecy that has cost the public dear:
“This report was locked in a drawer for two and a half years. When it finally saw the light of day, councillors were placed under a gagging order. Elected representatives had to fight through every legal channel just to see work the council had paid for.”
“The CEO and senior management withheld information from the very people elected to represent the public. They ignored clear professional warnings, pressed ahead regardless, and wasted over £1.35 million of public funds on a project that was fatally flawed from the start.”
Issues
The RSK report set out fundamental, unresolved issues that the group claim were never shared with those tasked with scrutinising the project.
These included:
• Site viability: No sewers, wastewater treatment or storm drainage at the proposed quarry site; a major NI Water main running directly through the area with a strict 6-metre exclusion zone described by NI Water as “not acceptable”
• Visitor management: Repeatedly flagged as essential, yet there is no plan to show how large numbers of people will be managed safely or sustainably
• Park & Ride: This critical facility – on third-party land, with no environmental assessments or approvals in place is required to be fully agreed before the visitor centre proceeds. Without it, the project will simply add to traffic chaos and environmental harm
• Congestion risks: The council claimed traffic issues would be minimal – but this relies entirely on an unproven, unapproved Park & Ride. Even the traffic data used is outdated, taken from February 2020 and useless for judging peak-season conditions
• Missing environmental checks: All assessments so far have only looked at the immediate site. Experts agree full, mountain-wide ecological surveys are needed covering waterways, footpaths and wildlife across the whole area
• Unproven claims: Vague promises about “highest environmental standards”, “light touch” construction and reinvesting in nature are used repeatedly - but with no defined standards, no figures, no evidence and no way to hold anyone to account
Councillors Kept in Dark
Mournes councillor Jill Truesdale, who sat on the gondola Programme Board, only learned the report existed in late 2024 and she was initially refused access. Ultimately she was forced to pursue an Environmental Information Request, internal review and appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office just to obtain a document the council had paid for and commissioned itself.
When the report was finally sent to Programme Board members in January 2025, it came with an explicit instruction: do not share this outside this group. Permission to show it to her own party colleagues took another month and a half - almost three years after it was ordered!
Councillor Truesdale said: “Every single warning was there in black and white. This report should have been a handbook for councillors who did not have specialist environmental expertise. Instead it was hidden away. When I raised my serious concerns, I was met with silence. We were repeatedly told the Programme Board was there to provide extra scrutiny but you cannot scrutinise what you are never shown.”
Her colleague Councillor Tierna Howie, who chaired the Strategy, Policy and Resources Committee, was also refused access. “We were told this board was an extra layer of oversight. How can we possibly hold management to account when vital information is deliberately withheld from us?”
Call for change
Council Watch believe this is just one of a catalogue of council failures including the botched flood response, spiralling costs, a Judicial Review on the Newry Civic Hub, unresolved environmental issues at Warrenpoint Port, and repeated misuse of “confidential” classifications and secrecy to avoid public scrutiny.
The community campaigners are calling on all councillors to pass a vote of no confidence in the current council leadership, launch an independent public inquiry into governance, decision-making and financial management, end the culture of secrecy and ensure all relevant information is placed before elected members and the public without delay, and halt all spending on the Mourne Gateway project until every outstanding issue is fully addressed, tested and approved openly.
You can check out Council Watch at www.facebook.com/groups/councilwatchnmddc
or sign their petition at my.actnowni.org
“The time for excuses is over,” added Ingram. “We demand transparency. We demand accountability. And we demand an end to the waste of the public’s money.”
Newry.ie asked Council for comment and a spokesperson said: “Newry, Mourne and Down District Council commissioned the RSK report, working with the National Trust, Tourism NI, Mourne Heritage Trust and DfC, to identify environmental issues and constraints linked to the proposed project.
"The report was shared with stakeholders in September 2022 and confirmed that the project is located in an environmentally sensitive area. It also highlighted the Council’s commitment to understanding and addressing any potential environmental impacts as the project developed."
The spokesperson continued: "The report identified further environmental surveys and assessments needed to support the detailed design and planning application process. It also set out the environmental services required for the procurement of the Integrated Consultancy Team, and this information was shared with stakeholders.
"The findings helped inform stakeholder engagement and public consultation planning. Updates on the project were provided through Project Board meetings and Council committees, including the SPR Committee in open session in September 2023, where members were advised that the RSK report was available on request."
They concluded: "The project was managed in line with Council and Belfast Region City Deal governance arrangements, with key decisions and updates reported through the appropriate Council processes.”
