Locals Outraged as DfI Issues Vesting Orders for Southern Relief Road

An attempt by the Department for Infrastructure to vest land to enable the building of the proposed Southern Relief Road has been met with anger from residents of the Flagstaff and Fathom. The area of outstanding natural beauty attracts many thousands of visitors annually and is home to ancient forest and a wide variety of wildlife.

The approximately 2.4km long Southern Relief Road would link the Warrenpoint Dual Carriageway at Greenbank in Newry with the A1 south of Cloughogue through the Fathom and Flagstaff area, via a fixed bridge over the historic Newry Ship Canal, which will block Newry City as a destination for tall ships or yachts.

The scheme is suggested to cost between £110m and £130m. £93.4m has been funded from the Belfast Region City Deal but no information has been given on where the potential shortfall of £37m is coming from.

Flagstaff residents Roisin Morgan and Joanne Glenn are angry and concerned not only on the impact it will have on them directly but also the impact it will have on their environment, especially the beautiful ancient forest at Bensons Glen and the wildlife in the area.

Both are losing a substantial amount of land with Roisin's brother Frank Clarke also affected. They know of at least seven land owners in the locality who received vesting orders. A vesting order is a legal document that forcibly transfers ownership of property from one party to another, saving government organisations from going through lengthy procedure to get what they want.

The vesting letters were received on January 4, a day after Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd announced he was proceeding with the project.  Roisin said "But of course, the news had come out on Friday, so we got the letters after the Press did. I thought that there was little consideration given to the people that are most affected by this, whenever we're reading in the press that the ministers going ahead. Where's the money coming from? They haven't accounted for that. How much of Northern Ireland's budget are they spending? I know this was EU funded up until 2020, It's now 2025. A Public Enquiry is going to cost a lot of money. Can Northern Ireland afford that"

Joanne added "It's very inconsiderate that we weren't told in advance considering there is so much of our land going, much more than we initially thought."

Roisin said "This makes it feel very real. It was the kind of thing you put to the back of your mind, hoping that it would never get passed, and never get to the next stage and then when the letter arrives, obviously  it makes it feel very real."

Roisin is more or less losing her front garden, with a two lane road travelling under the Flagstaff Road in an undercut around 30m from her house "So instead of living in the countryside now we're going to be living on a motorway. I'm going to have the road behind me, I'm going to have it to the side of me, then it's going across, and then it's going to go in front of me." she explained.

The SRR is being built primarily to facilitate freight traffic to and from Warrenpoint Port the DfI have explained. Roisin said "My biggest concern is this road is partly built because of Warrenpoint Port. In Warrenpoint Port's Masterplan, the Southern Relief Road was a major strategic project for them and their plan was to grow the port by 80%. I worked out from the traffic studies that were done on the first EIA report [Environmental Impact Assesment] for the road that if they grow the port by 80% that will add an extra 2000 lorries per day on the road - per day! The big problem is going to be noise, and it's not going to be the lorries climbing. It's because the hill is so steep - the brakes are going to be very noisy. There's an ancient forest, as you see just there [Bensons Glen] and you know what lights and everything do to animals and birds. It's going to be very detrimental to the forest."

Explaining how close the road is going to their property Roisin said "The embankment starts immediately at our hedge and the road's going to be 30 foot down just at that gate. At that gate they're digging 30 foot down through granite. This house here is 140 years old.  How's our house going to stand, It's so close."

She added "We're going to drive out into a two lane road here. I think from that pillar down is being taken, which is horrendous. It is mental, but to me, it's the environment. We have red squirrels, we have pine martens in the forest, obviously badgers. There's actually evidence of otters as well as buzzards and other birds of prey."

Local residents have formed a committee called Can't Fathom It and the group plan to fight the proposals as best they can.

Roisin explained "All the locals are going to be affected, obviously but there's a lot of non locals too, that are interested because of Benson's Glen which dates from the 1700's. A lot of people visited Benson's Glen when they were children. It's very sentimental to them."

She added "We have people ready to chain themselves to trees."

Roisin thinks figures produced as part of the project investigations are flawed, as they weren't calculated taking into account the forthcoming Narrow Water Bridge "All their figures were calculated on no Narrow Water Bridge being there, it was all flawed. The figures estimate traffic numbers and level of pollution, time held in traffic jams. 'We're relieving the middle of Newry, we are saving Kilmorey Street' but they're not really because there's a bridge there already."

Minister O'Dowd's project is going against the climate act Roisin believes  "We are supposed to change the modal form of transport in Northern Ireland under the climate act, and this is not changing the modal form of transport in Northern Ireland. New roads bring extra traffic. They're talking about Newry being bunged up. Newry doesn't actually be bunged up anymore, does it. Let's spend £132 million for a non existent traffic problem. The other big issue is it's going to increase the potential for flooding, because every tree and bush you take away is going to increase the chance of Newry flooding. Have they taken that into consideration."

Exhibition Day 21 January

The Department for Infrastructure is hosting a staffed Orders Exhibition Day on the Southern Relief Road project at Newry Leisure Centre, Cecil Street, Newry tomorrow Tuesday 21 January 2025 from 10am to 8pm. It's open to the public so if you want to find out more about their plans you should go along.