Campaign against Mournes ‘dead end’

Campaign against Mournes ‘dead end’

15 January 2025

THE impact of the Mourne Gateway Project’s increasing cost is highlighted in Dawson Stelfox’s Mountaineering Ireland article.

Projected costs have already risen from the original £33m to £44m, with the Department for the Economy saying the cost is now in the region of £50m.

With City Deal funding capped at £30m, its likely that every penny of additional cost will be met by ratepayers.

Mr Stelfox warns project costs are likely to rise further especially as it is only now that gondola engineering experts are being asked for their and it is likely extensive traffic management measures around Newcastle will have to be included to try to mitigate their impacts on a town already congested “on the good summer days when the gondola would be at its most alluring”.

And therein lies the nub of the issue, contends Mr Stelfox.

“Newcastle does not need a good weather view dependent attraction with international tourists passing a few hours before returning to their cruise ship or Belfast hotel, but a sustainable level of year-round visitors, staying locally and supporting local businesses, shops, bars and restaurants.

“Activity tourism already provides that and could be supported to offer a lot more. There is no shortage of good ideas, many coming out of the Forever Mournes' project led by the National Trust, Mourne Heritage Trust, Woodland Trust and NI Water, and the post- Covid, DfE-funded report by the James Hutton Institute.”

Mountaineering Ireland made a detailed submission to the local council in April 2023 and recently updated its summary of alternative options.

Mr Stelfox said many of these ideas – such as a Bloody Bridge/Donard forest/Tollymore trail – could be implemented for a fraction of the cost of the gondola.

“Newcastle could build on its reputation as a year-round activity resort with new indoor sports facilities, restoration of the Rock Pool baths, water sports facilities at the harbour and an Avondale-type tree walk experience in Donard or Tollymore forests,” he continued.

“A Mourne Gateway is a good idea, but it should be in Donard Park, not halfway up a mountain, as the Ben Lawers experience in Scotland proved.”

Mr Stelfox said all the interpretation of Mourne heritage, environmental and safety messages can be told much more accessibly and efficiently in Donard Park, warning the rising costs of an unwanted gondola “will suck up all available funds, especially as other areas will demand their far share, given the amount being spent in the Mounes, ill-advised as it is.”

He said Mountaineering Ireland is not alone in opposing the gondola, referencing the Mourne Gateway Information Group and recently formed Friends of Donard, with the Alliance Party consistently opposing it “so far against the majority of councillors”.

Mr Stelfox said Mountaineering Ireland has put forward a series of what it believes are better, alternative developments, insisting it is not yet too late to have these adopted and funds redirected.

“We are calling for the consultants' brief to be amended to consider alternative options, a detailed options appraisal to be put into the public domain and consulted on, including outline business cases,” he said.

Mr Stelfox said Mountaineering Ireland was keen for a “genuine partnership” developed between the local council, National Trust, NI Water, Forest Service, Woodland Trust and Mourne Heritage Trust to deliver a “coordinated plan for sustainable, all year round activity tourism, protecting the natural heritage and supporting the local community”.

He added: “In the absence of this, Mountaineering Ireland will continue to campaign against the gondola focused project, which is not a Mourne gateway, but a dead end.”