Campaign group concerned that Gondola project could become a 'white elephant'

A Co Down community group objecting to the £50m Mournes Gateway project has called on ratepayers to scrutinise the council plans at a public engagement event today 7 November.

The Mourne Gateway Info Group with over 1,300 members has attracted almost 4,500 signatures petitioning against the controversial gondola design.

A public event has been organised on behalf of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC)  by ‘Arup’, the project’s integrated consultancy team today on Thursday (Nov 7).

Info Group spokesperson Geoff Ingram spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), saying: “Unfortunately, this ‘engagement event’ looks very much like a re-run of the one last year, when we were assured that we would be consulted at every stage of the project and our questions would be answered.

“A year and a half later, we have heard virtually nothing from the council and our emails and questions go unanswered.”

The major development is to gain a capped amount of £30m from the Belfast Regional City Deal (BRCD) with the council to pay an agreed £14m, plus any increased costs that may occur.

A council SPR (strategy, policy and resources) report in March 2024 stated that the “estimate for the project had increased from a total of £33.6m to £44m” when the business case was secured in September 2021.

The report added that the Department for the Economy (DfE) had reviewed NMDDC estimates and advised its estimate for the project at “£50m…contrary to the  advice from the council’s professional cost consultant”.

During this week’s NMDDC full council meeting, CEO Marie Ward advised chairperson Pete Byrne (SDLP) to seek a proposal to ratify the minutes of the October SPR committee into confidential session, despite the matter being listed on the agenda to be in open session.

The recent SPR committee minutes included the approval to secure a gondola expert for the project.

The LDRS understands that minutes from the Mourne Gateway Programme Board, where the project is scrutinised, were not included.

It is also understood that the gondola expert will be starting designs from scratch and may not reflect the council’s widely publicised images.

The Mourne Gateway Info Group now believes the project will become a NMDDC  ‘white elephant’.

Mr Ingram added: “A few months ago the Mourne Gateway Info Group conducted a wind speed study using a scientific database, which showed that the wind gusts on the mountain would force the gondola to close for large parts of the year making the project economically unviable.

“The council however, continues to press ahead with this project without even doing the most basic research.

“In addition to our own queries, we’ll be supplying the public with many other questions which the council have so far failed to answer.

“We are not confident that ratepayers will get answers to any of these questions, but since this event is supposedly about public engagement, we can only wait and see.”

The public drop-in event will run at O’Hare’s, Central Promenade, Newcastle, today 7 November between 1pm and 8pm.