4.

asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail his plans to upgrade the Newry/ Armagh and Armagh/Dungannon road network; and to make a statement.

(AQO 248/01)

The roads to which the Member refers form one of the four link corridors in the regional strategic transportation network identified in the regional development strategy. That corridor runs from Newry to Armagh, the A28, and from Armagh to Coleraine via Dungannon and Cookstown, the A29. The western division of Roads Service is carrying out several minor capital schemes on the route between Dungannon and Swatragh. Some further minor schemes are programmed on the same section.

The section of the route from Newry to Dungannon is generally considered to be of a good standard. Therefore, Roads Service has no current plans to carry out improvement schemes on that section of the link corridor. However, I have recently written to Members to inform them of the consultation process planned for Roads Service's 10-year forward-planning schedule. The chief executive of Roads Service will write soon to Members to detail schemes to be considered for inclusion. Several schemes on that link corridor, which include a Dungannon bypass, will be included in the list of schemes to be considered. I hope that Members will remember that I have said "to be considered". In the past, when things were being considered, Members often assumed that they were being done. In the meantime, I assure you that Roads Service is committed to maintaining the road structure and the running surface of the Newry to Dungannon route and will continue to ensure that it is maintained in a safe and satisfactory condition.

The Minister will be aware that Mid Ulster is in good economic shape, with low unemployment levels. However, it requires appropriate transport and infrastructure. Can the Minister set plans in motion to improve the A29 beyond Dungannon, through Cookstown and Moneymore, so that the area can have good links with markets throughout Northern Ireland, especially with the south-west.

I outlined the importance that my Department attaches to the A29 and to the A28. An examination of the regional development strategy shows that it is an important route. I understand and accept the Member's comments that those routes are essential to the economic well-being of his constituents and those people in the surrounding area. I shall endeavour to obtain whatever resources that I can in order to upgrade those corridors, among others.

5.

asked the Minister for Regional Develop­ment to provide an update on the current planning status, progress on land vesting and allocation of financial resources to enable the safety improvements at the Millbrook and Antiville junctions on the A8 Larne to Belfast road to commence.

(AQO 201/01)

In lieu of formal planning approval, the statutory procedures for major road schemes of that nature require a detailed environmental assessment of the proposals and the creation of a direction order. In this case, the environmental procedures were completed in December 2000, and the direction order was made on 26 September 2001. That will come into operation on the 9 November 2001, subject to ratification by the Com­mittee for Regional Development and the Assembly.

A notice of intention to make a vesting order to acquire the necessary lands should be published in the local press this month, and, subject to no objections being received, the land could become available early in 2002. Finance for the scheme has already been secured. Therefore, I hope that, subject to the successful completion of the statutory procedures, work on the six-month con­struction contract can begin by the spring of 2002.

That will be very welcome news to the people of Larne who have waited a long time for these junctions to be improved. This part of the A8 is significant in the trans-European network system. It has importance in the regional development strategy and Executive funding. With all this, and a large increase in housing, will the Minister acknowledge that it is essential that this work should progress as soon as possible, given the number of accidents in the area? Will he ensure that it will receive priority funding and that the programme will proceed now that the Executive have made the finance available?

I have endeavoured to be as clear as I possibly can. However, in all of these instances there are possibilities for delay, and I have outlined a number of them. Less than two weeks ago the direction order was made. Subject to the ratification of the Regional Development Committee, and the Assembly itself, I am extremely hopeful that that order will come into operation on 9 November.

As the Member noted, funding is available. Notwith­standing the possibilities for delay, I would be extremely surprised if we could not proceed in the timescale to which I have referred.

I remind the Minister of the growing number of serious accidents happening on the A8. If there are objections to the vesting, will that necessitate a public inquiry?

I join with others in the House in wishing Mr Neeson all the best in what may be described as his "semi-retirement".

I am aware of the build-up of traffic in the area, and I am also aware of the safety concerns of public represent­atives and people in the wider community. I am hopeful that we will be in a position to move, provided that there are no objections. However, on some occasions there have been objections as we have gone through the statutory process. Sometimes it has been possible to negotiate with the objector, and the need for the objection has been obviated. I do not want to pre-empt this, but if objections are made we will have to examine the nature and scale of those objections. I am hopeful that none will be raised. If that is the case, I expect that we shall be able to proceed on that basis.

6.

asked the Minister for Regional Develop­ment to detail what action has been taken to develop a transport infrastructure in the west of the Province.

(AQO 205/01)

In recent years my Department's Roads Service has completed a number of major road schemes to enhance the roads infrastructure in the west of the Province. Most notably, these schemes have included the A5 Omagh throughpass, stages 2 and 2B, the A509 Aghalane Bridge, the A5 Leckpatrick scheme and the A5 Magheramason scheme. Roads Service also has plans to undertake a significant number of further major roads schemes in the west of the Province in future years.

As far as public transport in the west of the Province is concerned, my Department's rural transport fund supports 14 rural bus routes and 11 rural community transport partnerships. These services are in addition to the normal Ulsterbus services that run throughout Northern Ireland. My Department is currently preparing a draft 10-year regional transportation strategy for Northern Ireland. It will set out the longer-term strategy for the delivery of transport policy throughout Northern Ireland and provide a strategic framework within which funding decisions on investment in roads and public transport can be taken.

The strategy will fully recognise the importance of accessibility in rural areas and in particular the signific­ant structural maintenance backlog on minor roads in rural areas. The draft strategy is due for completion in the autumn.

The Minister mentioned the A5 in the Omagh area, but I am particularly interested in the A4, and much work has been done there. The 'Shaping our Future' document shows the regional transportation infrastructure to mean minimal transport development west of the Bann.

I was amused to hear that a bypass for Dungannon is being considered, although there was no mention of a bypass for Moy on the A29. It is a notorious bottleneck, and I hope that a feasibility study will be done to alleviate pressure on that particular part. I welcome the Minister's transport policy, and I want to know what has been done about the A29 Moy bypass.

I will try to cover roads, public transport and the regional transportation strategy. Mrs Carson raises two specific issues - the Moy bypass and the A4. Several schemes are included in the road service construction programme and the major works preparation poll, and I have mentioned some of them. The improvements to the A4 at Eglish and Cabragh are further good examples. I will respond to the Member in writing regarding proposals in relation to the Moy bypass and the A4.

Does the Minister agree that we need to act on the matter of bypasses for Cookstown and Magherafelt if we are to have a proper, appropriate and successful transport infrastructure in the west of the Province? They are needed urgently, as that is a major route to the sea and the airport, and thus vital to the economy of west of the Province.

The short answer is yes. There are several towns in Northern Ireland about which I have received significant representations regarding bypasses, and each of them must be judged on its merits. I do not underestimate the importance of the towns that Dr McCrea mentioned. However, the difficulty lies in the resource implications for each of them.

Members will be aware of the continuous repre­sentations that have been made to me about more than a dozen areas, all of which are in need of bypasses. Members will also be aware of the criticism that the Department receives when a bypass has been agreed. However, we will proceed nonetheless. I do not in any way underest­imate the economic implications to Cookstown and Magherafelt.

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I welcome the Minister's answer, particularly regarding the Eglish roundabout and Cabragh. Does he accept that in the past the transport infrastructure was severely underfunded in the constituencies in the west, and can he guarantee that he will skew resources in order to make our roads safer, in line with roads in the rest of the Six Counties?

I cannot speak for the allocation of resources in former years, let alone decades, but I can speak with some authority on the implications for resources that have been allocated since I became a Minister.

The number of occasions that I have been west of the Bann to announce schemes - for example, the Newtown­stewart bypass, the Limavady bypass and the Omagh throughpass - or in relation to schemes that have been completed, should underline my Department's commitment to all of Northern Ireland, not least areas west of the Bann.

7.

asked the Minister for Regional Development to give his assessment as to how the recently announced draft Budget proposals will help to improve the road network of West Tyrone.

(AQO 213/01)

The Minister of Finance and Personnel, when he announced his draft Budget for 2002-03 on 25 September, spoke of additional money being allocated to the roads programme. Some £8·79 million of that is to maintain current levels of investment in the country's roads infrastructure. The increase is essentially to avoid reductions in planned service throughout Northern Ireland, including West Tyrone, that would otherwise have been necessary because of additional costs, including the effects of the aggregates tax. For example, it will allow the Roads Service to start work on the Strabane bypass next year, following completion of the statutory procedures. I am also aware of the importance of routes such as the western A5 and the south-western A4, which are key transport corridors to West Tyrone. As I indicated in my recent letter to Members, the Roads Service has identified a number of major works on key corridors for possible inclusion in the 10-year forward planning schedule.

Is there sufficient finance available in the draft Budget proposals to complete the bypass of Omagh, which is a much more significant town than Dungannon, Magherafelt or Cookstown?

I will decline the Member's offer to elaborate on the relevant importance of the major towns in or beyond his constituency. Subject to the successful completion of the necessary statutory procedures, and the availability of funds, it is hoped to start work on a number of schemes - and the Omagh throughpass is among them - in early 2003. The cost would be approx­imately £5 million.

Does the Minister agree that roads invest­ment is vital to an area such as West Tyrone, which is solely dependent on a road network for all its transport needs? Does he accept that the accumulated roads maintenance backlog has had a detrimental effect on the condition of those roads? Does he accept that it is very difficult to attract inward investment or promote more locally based economic development, given that a 40-tonne lorry cannot travel above 40 miles per hour anywhere in my constituency? We do not have one mile of dual carriageway or motorway in West Tyrone.

I accept the importance of an infra-structure that will allow the passage of passenger and freight vehicles freely though many of our towns in Northern Ireland. I accept, and take note, that economic development can be hindered as a result of the infra­structure not being provided. We come back to the chestnut of sufficient funds being available to provide that necessary infrastructure. I will, of course, make every application possible to secure those resources.

The Minister will realise that the A5 is a route of major importance to those of us who live in West Tyrone, and it is a trans-European network route. On 2 October, the European Commission discussed transport and some proposals for the modification of the criteria used in the funding arrangements for trans-European network routes, taking account of eight new such routes and of European enlargement. Can the Minister assure the House that those decisions will have no negative impact on the long-term future improvement and develop­ment of the route, despite the problems of additionality, and that they will have no negative impact on the overall 10-year plan?

Rather than respond on the hoof, I will reply to the Member specifically in writing.

8.

asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the steps he has taken to ensure and assess public access to information and to services provided by the authority as required by schedule 9 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998; and to make a statement.

(AQO 244/01)

My Department's equality scheme contains a commitment to the highest level of inclusivity in the provision of its information and services. The Department has completed an audit to establish the current provision of information on services accessible to section 75 groups. We are now building on the evidence gained through this exercise to produce good practice guidelines for making information more accessible. These are being developed in consultation with relevant groups. I have also ensured that effective arrangements are being put in place for monitoring access to information and services in order to ensure equality of opportunity.

It is important that the public should know all of the transactions of any Department and that they should be open and transparent. What is the Minister's Department doing to ensure that people know that this information is accessible?

I have referred to some of the arrange­ments that have been put in place. I will write to the Member to elaborate on those.

I look forward to the day when I, or some of my Colleagues, will be able to return to this House to make positive statements and more beneficial announcements for the people of Northern Ireland. I will work for the context in which we can do that, and I hope that it will have acceptance and support in my community as well.

Environment

Question 5, in the name of Mr Fee, has been transferred to the Minister for Regional Development and will receive a written answer. Question 16, in the name of Mr Close, has been transferrerd to the Minister of Finance and Personnel and will receive a written answer.

1.

asked the Minister of the Environ­ment to give his assessment in relation to the effects which new developments in areas such as Carryduff are having on the road infrastructure such as the Saintfield Road.

(AQO 190/01)

The Planning Service is guided on these matters by the Department for Regional Development's Roads Service, which is consulted during the preparation of the development plans that provide the framework for determining planning applications. It is also consulted on relevant planning applications.

Many problems highlighted by the Roads Service in relation to planning applications are of a detailed nature, and are often resolved by negotiation. However, major development schemes such as those currently under consideration in Carryduff, which generate substantial traffic, have wider traffic implications. In such cases, traffic impact assessments are required from the applicant to assess whether the road network can accommodate the development, and, if not, what remedial measures are required. Advice given by Roads Service is an important factor in determining planning applications and in whether lands are zoned for development in the relevant plans.

Does the Minister agree that the reason for the problems associated with Carryduff are as a direct result of the lack of a Castlereagh area plan, despite many promises in previous years that one would be forthcoming? Can the Minister give an assurance that a strategic area plan in relation to Castlereagh will be accorded the proper status within the Belfast metropolitan area plan?

I can assure the Member that all situations are taken on their own merits, and it will be considered. My Department is currently considering three major planning applications for approximately 1,100 dwellings and associated facilities on green belt lands in the Carryduff area. The demand is great: it is not easy to contend.

My Department has asked the Planning Appeals Commission to convene a public inquiry into those applications. That is programmed to take place in two stages early next year. The Member referred to the Belfast metropolitan plan, which is currently being considered, and every opportunity will be given for respective areas to put in their requirements and to be examined and assessed.

Is the Minister aware that there is increasing anxiety in the Carryduff area about the major planning applications to which he has referred? It has been standing room only at public meetings in the Lough Moss Centre, as people express their opposition to schemes that do not have the proper infrastructure or social and community facilities. Is he aware that in Carryduff, and in other areas of Northern Ireland, people are criticising the Planning Service for its failure to take their opinions into account? Will the Minister assure the House that no major schemes will be approved until an area plan for Carryduff is created?

The recently published regional develop­ment strategy indicates that significant planned expansion of seven small towns in the Belfast metropolitan area, including Carryduff, is required to meet anticipated housing growth. Undoubtedly, there is great demand. To ensure that balanced and complete communities are created with the necessary services and infrastructure, including access to public transport services, some towns may need major improvements to their transport infrastructure.

My Department is preparing a Belfast metropolitan area plan, which will consider the scale and location of new housing development in Carryduff. My Department also intends to publish an issues paper towards the end of the year, which will facilitate public discussion of those matters. Having said that, the Department takes into consideration all aspects of all applications, and it does not ignore difficulties. They are taken into consideration, and they are fully assessed.

2.

asked the Minister of the Environ­ment what discussions have been initiated through the North/South Ministerial Council on developing a common approach to waste management.

(AQO 193/01)

I refer the Member to the statements I made to the Assembly on 12 March 2001 and 24 September 2001, following meetings of the North/South Ministerial Council on 23 February 2001 and 15 June 2001 respect­ively. Those statements include details of North/South Ministerial Council discussions on the subject of waste management in a cross-border context.

The Assembly Official Reports for 12 March and 24 September contain transcripts of the statements. At those meetings, Ministers from both Administrations agreed that there was scope for improved waste management in a cross-border context. It was further agreed that initial work should focus on promoting recycling and on developing markets in manufacturing opportunities for recycled goods and materials.

Ministers have asked their respective officials to work together to develop proposals for a structured approach to the establishment of a joint market development programme. The Council also agreed that officials should jointly give consideration to a cross-border proposal to encourage community-based recycling.

In addition, Ministers noted the success of the recovery scheme for foreign plastics in operation in the Republic of Ireland. It was agreed that my Department, in discussion with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, would assess the desirability of a complementary initiative in Northern Ireland.

I thank the Minister for his con­structive statement. Given the recent decision by the British Government to start production at the MOX plant in Sellafield, can the Minister tell us what contacts he has initiated with his Southern counterparts, whether he has initiated any joint action, and if he will make a statement? Go raibh maith agat.

Discharges from the Sellafield plant are regulated by the Environment Service in England and Wales. My Department and I do not have any direct jurisdiction. Sellafield has been agreed to as an issue for consideration by the environment sector of the British- Irish Council, and it would not be appropriate for the subject to be discussed on a North/South basis alone.

The next meeting of the environment sector of the British-Irish Council (BIC) has not yet been arranged. This is a matter for the Whitehall Department of Environ­ment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). DEFRA chairs the environment sector of the British-Irish Council and provides a secretariat. The Member referred to the MOX plant omissions. DEFRA has estimated that the radio­activity in the gaseous discharge from the MOX plant will contribute to less than 1% of the total activity discharged annually from the Sellafield site.

I am aware that people have concerns. Radioactivity and the liquid effluent would contribute about one ten thousandth of 1% of the total activity discharged from the site in liquid form. At these levels, it is expected that the most exposed members of the public would receive around 0·002 microseiverts per year from the operation of the MOX plant. At this rate, DEFRA estimates that it would take 10,000 years to get the same exposure as in a single chest X-ray.

Can the Minister inform the House if such discussions have included a resumption of dumping of specified risk material from the Republic of Ireland at Aughnacloy landfill site?

Yes, we have been in discussion about those aspects, and I assure the Member that every aspect to which he has referred has been taken into consider­ation and will be watched very closely.

I am very disappointed with the Minister's reply to Mr Murphy about the British licensing of the MOX plant. Is the Minister aware that this is in direct contravention of the Oslo/Paris Commission (OSPAR) agreement entered into by the two Governments and other European Governments and, therefore, should be, in view of the concerns of the people in Northern Ireland and the South of Ireland, and particularly those on the east coast, a matter that should be addressed by the North/South Ministerial Council?

The Minister knows that there is an intention to increase the discharge of radioactive toxic waste into the Irish Sea and that there is to be enhanced transportation of very dangerous radioactive material up and down the Irish Sea. It is a matter of concern for this island and many other islands and Governments in western Europe, and it should be a matter of urgency for the North/South Ministerial Council.

I am aware that Mr McGrady and others are very concerned about the Sellafield plant. Mr McGrady has questioned me several times before, and I have given him answers on the situation. I impress upon him that we attach great significance to these issues, and I assure him that we do not ignore them.

Statistics show that people in Northern Ireland receive on average 2,500 micro-seiverts of radiation a year from all natural and artificial sources. Of that, 50% is due to exposure to radon at home, and 12% is as a result of medical exposure. Nuclear discharges account for less than 0·1%. In the assessments, which are carried out periodically, we have not found any great sense of danger in so far as the waters of the Irish Sea are concerned.

3.

asked the Minister of the Environment to detail progress to date on developing the waste manage­ment strategy.

(AQO 247/01)

The Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy was published by my Department in March 2000. Its main aim is to achieve sustainable waste manage­ment through the reduction, re-cycling and recovery of waste. A key requirement for the strategy is the develop­ment by district councils of waste management plans, showing how they propose to meet the targets in the strategy and provide the strategic network of waste management facilities that will be needed.

The strategy set a deadline of the end of June 2001 for the submission to my Department of final draft plans following public consultation. All three council partnership groups submitted draft plans to my Department before the end of June. However, these were pre-consultation rather than final drafts.

My officials have recently met with representatives of the three groups and provided information to assist them to finalise the draft plans for public consultation. My Department has also provided a workshop to assist councils to identify the best practicable environmental option in their plans.

Completion of those plans and the establishment of the physical infrastructure needed to meet the strategy's objectives and targets will be central to its success.

The Department of the Environment recently consulted on a draft planning policy statement that was concerned with planning policies for the development of waste management facilities. The Department has also funded a further study of waste arisings in Northern Ireland. The results will assist councils in making their decisions on waste management.

An important part of the machinery to deliver the strategy was the establishment of the Waste Management Advisory Board. The board held its inaugural meeting on 6 June 2001. I am confident that it will play a key role in the guiding, monitoring and progression of the strategy.

Given that the three sub-regional waste management strategies reflect the key objectives of the Northern Ireland waste management strategy, why has the Department of the Environment delayed its identification of generic education and public awareness programmes to support the implementation of the district council waste strategies. As a consequence, £1 million of funding to support the local strategies' implementation has been surrendered. What steps has the Department of the Environment taken to provide training, and innovative and meaningful consultation mechanisms, for local government officers involved in the development of district council waste management plans?

I do not fully understand the Member's question. I think that Mr Poots is referring to the public­ation of details about the plans and the education processes that there can be. Madam Deputy Speaker, is that correct?

I am aware that the Department of the Environment handed back £1 million. Why did the Department not proceed with the education plans at an early stage and bring the public on board with the waste management strategy?

Some councils did not make represent­ations to the Department of the Environment until June 2001, and the Department received only consultative documents rather than draft plans. That held back the Department. There was £3·5 million set aside, but the Department had to return £1 million. However, I assure the Member that that does not mean that the Department will treat the issue any less seriously.

The Department hopes to push the education plans when the other plans go out, because if one issue is put in front of another it is forgotten about and it loses it impact. That is why the education plans are not running now. However, they will run concurrently with the other plans.

My question follows on from Mr Poots's question. Will there be adequate funding and help for the consultation and education programmes, as well as their practical implementation?

The Department of the Environment tries to obtain as much funds as are necessary. In advance of the plans' completion, the Department has sought the views of district councils and the Waste Management Advisory Board on immediate expenditure needs. In this financial year, the Department will invest £400,000 on extending the Great Britain waste and resource action programme (WRAP) in Northern Ireland in order to assist the creation of a stable and efficient market for recycled materials and products. To complete waste data studies costs a further £400,000, and £500,000 will be invested in a public awareness and education programme to coincide with the public consultation of district council plans.

Departmental officials are also looking at the scope for further assistance to councils on top of the £130,000 that has already been provided to help complete their plans and to set up pilot schemes. The indicative allocation for waste management in the 2002-03 draft Budget is £7 million.

The Minister has upstaged me in stating the figure of £7 million that his Department seeks for 2002-03. Will the Minister tell the House at what areas that welcome extra money will be targeted?

Detailed decisions on the distribution of the funds have not yet been made and will depend on progress on the development, agreement and implement­ation of district council waste management plans, which the Department awaits.

4.

asked the Minister of the Environment to give his assessment of the impact that the sixth Environment Action Programme of the European Com­munity 2001-10 is likely to have on Northern Ireland.

(AQO 204/01)

The EU Commission's proposals for a sixth Environment Action Programme, first circulated to Members for comment last January, will soon go before the European Parliament for Second Reading. Therefore, it is likely to be some time before the content of the programme is finalised. The UK is broadly supportive of the Commission's proposals, and I have endorsed that line.

The programme includes a more vigorous approach to implementing existing environmental policy, integrating environmental objectives into social and economic policies and developing more sustainable production and consumpt­ion patterns. That approach would undoubtedly provide challenges for Northern Ireland as well as other parts of the UK and other member states.

However, much of what the Executive has initiated on the environment since devolution means that Northern Ireland should be well placed to respond to those challenges. That includes the commitments to sustainable development and environmental protection set out in the Programme for Government as well as the substantial increases in resources provided for environmental protection in the Budgets for 2001-02 and 2002-03. The proposals in the sixth programme identify a number of priority action areas at European level. Those largely coincide with environmental priorities on both GB and Northern Ireland levels.

The Environment Action Programme identifies five key approaches, one of which is to integrate environmental concerns into all relevant policy areas. How does the Minister envisage his Department integrating those environmental concerns into the relevant policy areas?

The Environment Action Programme seeks to deepen the integration further. In order to effect that, in the next few weeks a consultation paper will be published on a draft sustainable development strategy.

The consultation paper will seek views on the imple­ment­ation framework for sustainable development. Sim­ultaneously, that will achieve the four objectives of sustainable development: social progress, which recognises the needs for everyone; effective protection of the environment; prudent use of natural resources; and maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment. In this way environmental objectives will be integrated with social and economic gains. I assure the Member that the consultation paper will look at those issues, and the Department will await representations.

TOP

<< Prev / Next >>