Swann, Kennedy warn of lignite devastation

Mr Swann is North Antrim UUP Association Chairman and UUP Energy Spokesman while Councillor Kennedy is Mayor of Ballymoney.

The two UUP men issued their warning during a visit to the potentially affected region by their party colleague and MLA, Mr Tom Elliott, who is Vice-Chairman of the Stormont Assembly Agricultural Committee.

The UUP delegation visited the North Antrim area around Ballymoney, which will be affected most should the proposed moratorium on lignite mining not be extended.

The delegation, led by Mr Elliott, met with Bob Richmond Chairman of C.O.L.D. (Collective Objectors against Lignite Development) who gave the group a tour of the area indicating areas of landscape which would be affected should open cast lignite mining be allowed to go ahead.

Mr Richmond explained that up to 5,500 acres would eventually be affected, including homes, farms, small businesses and Churches.

Mr Elliott commended the members of COLD and the local community for the work they had done to date in combating the lignite proposals.

He added: “I fully understand the pressures the threat of open cast mining and the uprooting of families from farms and homes is having on everyone within the area, and am at a loss to understand why the moratorium was not extended or better still that the potential for lignite mining in Northern Ireland was removed altogether.”

UUP Cllr Bill Kennedy explained the effects the moratorium was having on businesses and development within the area.

He stressed: “Obtaining planning permission within the proposed area is almost an impossibility, which is having a demoralising affect on the people who live here.

“The opposition to open cast mining is significant and has received cross-party support in the past – something I hope will continue in the future.”

UUP North Antrim Chairman Mr Swann added: “Let the community be under no illusion about the environmental devastation and economic disaster which would be heaped on our North Antrim constituency should any green light be given to lignite drilling.

“The recession has hit our constituency very hard, but if lignite drilling begins, it would see large parts of North Antrim become economic and environmental wastelands.

“The Ulster Unionist Party pledge our continued full support to the campaign to stop lignite mining in our constituency, because if we lose this battle, it will turn a large area of North Antrim into an environmental and economic desert,” said Mr Swann.

The UUP campaign against the lignite proposals also has the strong backing of North Antrim MLA Rev Dr Robert Coulter MBE.

He said: “I would appeal to the entire community to redouble their efforts to stop this disastrous proposal. Lignite mining will have very serious consequences on our tourist and agricultural sectors if it goes ahead.

“This is not just a Ballymoney crisis – is it a crisis being faced by everyone in North Antrim,” said Rev Dr Coulter, himself a former Mayor of Ballymena.