Moutaineering group backs demand for gondola petition

10 July 2024

MOUNTAINEERING Ireland is supporting the demand for a petition calling for a controversial gondola ride into the heart of the Mournes to be abandoned.

The petition has secured over 1,300 signatures with the number of people backing calls for the centrepiece of the multi-million pound Mournes Gateway project being financed by the Belfast City Region Deal and Newry, Mourne and Down Council to be scrapped more than doubling in a week.

Previous calls for work on what is one of the biggest tourism schemes ever proposed for the island of Ireland to be shelved have been rejected by the local authority.

However, a fresh bid to stop the project — which has been branded by some as a “white elephant and vanity project” — is now being made by the Mourne Gateway Info Group which has launched the petition.

Mountaineering Ireland says it is strongly opposed to the gondola ride from a base station in Donard Park to a planned new visitor centre at a disused quarry at Thomas’s Mountain.

The organisation is opposing the gondola ride on environmental and mountain safety grounds and has confirmed it has submitted a detailed paper to the local council suggesting ”much better, sustainable, alternative ways to invest in the Mournes, manage the impacts of visitors and bring economic benefits to the community.

The local authority has promised full public debate on the £44m proposal, but has conceded that, following consultation and engagement on the project, support is not there.

The Mourne Gateway Info Group wants the flagship tourism project to transport people via cable cars from Donard Park over trees in Donard Forest to the new visitor centre to be aborted in favour of what it describes as “more responsible, available alternatives”.

In addition, members are extremely concerned about the “unjustifiable financial risk to ratepayers” and the rising project costs of what is being billed as a “world class tourism attraction”.

Campaigners insist the scheme should be abandoned, labelling it an “ill-conceived venture” which threatens to irreversibly damage the landscape, endanger wildlife habitats and impose financial burdens on ratepayers.

The petition “implores” the local council to reconsider and explore more sustainable alternatives that prioritise environmental preservation and community needs.

The pressure group has again expressed concern about the lack of public consultation over the gondola ride “despite overwhelming local opposition” as evidenced by its own poll which indicated over 77% of people were concerned the project has proceeded without adequate public debate.

Campaigners have accused the local authority of dismissing “viable, cost-effective and eco-friendly alternatives in favour of the gondola” which, they argue, demonstrates a concerning lack of consideration for community preferences and environmental impact.

In relation to costs, the Mourne Gateway Info Group says the secrecy surrounding the project’s business plan, coupled with unrealistic user projections and escalating costs, poses an “unjustifiable financial risk to ratepayers”.

And campaigners are concerned about the threat the cable car ride poses to the environment.

They say the tourism attraction “threatens sensitive habitats” including a Special Area of Conservation and an Area of Special Scientific Interest and endanger wildlife habitats and protected species.

Campaigners insist that contrary to promises of local economic benefits, the gondola project is likely to divert money from local businesses.

“The National Trust, which is the owner of the quarry and the mountain is a conservation organisation and is very unlikely to approve its construction,” they said.

In the editorial accompanying the online petition details on its social media page, the campaign group also points to weather and seasonal factors.

“The gondola is projected to operate 11 months a year but, factors like high winds and bad weather are likely to drastically reduce the days it can work and generate income,” say campaigners.

“We urge Newry, Mourne and Down Council to heed the voices of the community, prioritise environmental sustainability, and abandon the Mourne Mountains Gondola project in favour of more responsible available alternatives.

“Let us preserve the natural beauty of the Mourne mountains for future generations to enjoy.”

It has been suggested that the gondola ride could open in 2029 with projections that if the project gets the green light, it could attract 365,000 visitors annually after five years in business, generating just over £5m in revenue.

Those behind the scheme — which is also the largest ever capital investment project proposed for the district — say it has been designed to position the area as one of the province’s premier tourism districts and create 33 new jobs.

Council officials say there is a lot of work to do over the next few years to get to the stage where they want to be on site in Donard Park and in the disused quarry on Thomas’s mountain “with a lot of detail to be discussed and considerations to be made over the next two years”.

It is hoped to secure planning approval in 2026 and to also start construction in mid-2026 with a completion date in early 2029, with the tourism project fully operational by the middle of the year.

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