Meath Chronicle | Letter to the editor: The facts on the Slane bypass

Posted on September 29, 2010 by vincent

The facts on the Slane bypass

Meath Chronicle | Letter to the editor | Wednesday, 29th September, 2010

Dear sir – The Bypass Slane Campaign (BSC) has repeatedly accused ‘commentators’ of being ‘ill-informed’, and spreading ‘misinformation’. So, let’s deal with the critical facts here, regarding the proposed Slane bypass.

The first fact is that it has been Meath County Council, acting as agents of the National Roads Authority (NRA), who have proven themselves lacking in the information department. That is why An Bord Pleanala forced them to publish additional information, and re-open public consultation. Submissions can now be made to An Bord Pleanala until 15th October. All the previously withheld information on the proposed bypass, including; the western route options; the potential impact on Brú na Bóinne; archaeological reports on the 44 impacted sites; and the relationship of the bypass to the N2 Ashbourne to Ardee project, is now available on the Meath County Council web site. Even the original Environmental Impact Statement, which was not available on their web site during the original consultation, is now available for download.

The second fact is that while the Fianna Fail leaders of BSC, Thomas Byrne TD and Cllr Wayne Harding have attacked ESRI economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth, for calling the bypass proposal ‘idiotic’, the fact of the matter is that the NRA agreed with Dr Morgenroth and cancelled the Slane Bypass in May 2009, on economic grounds. In a letter delivered to councillors at a Slane Electoral Area meeting, reported in this paper, the NRA said that it needed to concentrate on a number of other national projects which are seen as being “particularly important for regional development”. Because of this, and the continued uncertainty regarding public finances, the NRA regretted that “it is not possible at this time to provide funding for the construction of the N2 Slane Bypass.”

The third fact is that the HGV ban was approved unanimously by Meath County Councillors in April 2009, and the County Manager, Tom Dowling, is under a legal duty to implement it, as he was told in the Transport Committee hearing last year. Residents of Slane, including the Ban HGVs from Slane campaign led by Carina Mount Charles, have campaigned and protested for years for a HGV ban in the village. The Minister for Transport, and Fianna Fail TD for Meath, Noel Dempsey, was even reported in this paper in 2009 as promising to “actively implement” the HGV ban. But the HGVs still roll through the village at an alarming rate, endangering lives every day.

The fourth fact is that a bypass of Slane has already been constructed, at a cost of over half a billion euros to the taxpayer. It is called the M1 motorway, and lies about five miles to the east of the village. It runs along the eastern boundary of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site, with a massive bridge over the Boyne, clearly visible from the Unesco site. Minister Dempsey and the Fianna Fail led BSC campaign would rather endanger lives in Slane on a daily basis than force the HGVs to use the road that was built for them, in order to unfairly pressurise An Bord Pleanala into approving a non-viable bypass, based on artificially inflated traffic volume.

Yours,

Vincent Salafia,
Save Newgrange,
Suite 108,
The Capel Building,
Mary’s Abbey,
Dublin 7.

Posted in Economic Arguments, Edgar Morgenroth, Letter to the Editor, Save Newgrange, Vincent Salafia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Londonderry Sentinel | Road lobbyists team up with southern counterparts

Posted on September 23, 2010 by vincent

Transport 21 map – Click to enlarge

Road lobbyists team up with southern counterparts

Londonderry Sentinel | 23 September 2010

A LOBBY group opposing the proposed A5 Western Transport Corridor (WTC) between Londonderry and Aughnacloy has teamed up with campaigners in Monaghan and Meath to oppose what it terms “ghost roads” on both sides of the border. Three campaign groups – the Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A), Save Newgrange (SN) and Don’t By the Bypass (DBTB) – working on different sections of the proposed M2/A5 motorway, which will eventually run from Dublin to Londonderry, have now joined force

AA5A is challenging the need for the upgrade of the A5 primary route, from the border to Londonderry, which at 55 miles will be the longest single road project ever undertaken in Northern Ireland. Authorities on both sides of the border are planning this section of the road together, and the Irish Government has committed to pay for a share of it.

Lynne Smyth, Secretary of the Alternative A5 Alliance said: “The Alternative A5 Alliance is delighted to be able to cooperate with the other campaign groups along the route of this proposed road. Together we must alert the people of Ireland to the catastrophe these ‘ghost roads’ will cause. “This is not the time to be tarmacing over our farmland and natural habitat. It is time to seek a sustainable transport option which will serve our future needs as well as that of our grandchildren – as they will be paying for it.

Noel Murphy, a spokesman for Don’t Bypass the Bypass, said: “Its great to be working in co-operation with the other groups, and we need to remain so going forward.”

Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange said: “We are delighted to have North-South co-operation between our community groups along the proposed M2/A5. “The people of Northern Ireland should have a say in what happens to the Brú na Bóinne Unesco World Heritage Site, since they are being asked to pay for part of the road that will severely impact it. “We welcome the intervention of Dr Edgar Morgenroth, associate economist with the ESRI, who said the N2 plans are ‘idiocy,’ and called for the HGV ban to be implemented in Slane.”Minister Dempsey must act now to both save lives in Slane, and stop wasting taxpayers’ money on ‘ghost roads’.”

Posted in Cultural Preservation, Environmental Protection, Save Newgrange, Vincent Salafia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Meath Chronicle | Information on Slane Bypass now on display

Posted on September 23, 2010 by vincent

Information on Slane Bypass now on display

Meath Chronicle | Wednesday, 22nd September, 2010
Profile by Ann Casey

Additional information on the proposed Slane Bypass is now on public display, following a request earlier this year from An Bord Pleanala for further information on the scheme. The information is on display in County Hall in Navan, Meath County Council’s Road Design office at Navan Enterprise Centre and at the Civic Offices at Main Street, Duleek, until 15th October. Submissions on the scheme must be forwarded to An Bord Pleanala by 15th October.

Cllr Wayne Harding said the proposal for the Slane Bypass could only be enhanced with public input and the more information that is available to people, the better. “People will now have the opportunity to make submissions to An Bord Pleanala as the public information requested by them will go on display until 15th October,” he said. “It is vital that we get the best possible bypass for Slane as it will have a huge impact on the village and the wider Boyne Valley area.” Cllr Harding pointed out that the people of Slane had campaigned long and hard for the bypass, so it was essential that it is progressed without delay. “The safety issues are well documented with the dangers of heavy vehicles going through the village very evident. A bypass would give peace of mind to residents and visitors to the village, but would also benefit local business as additional people would be encouraged to travel to the village in the absence of congestion and dangerous roads. This is another step on the way to the most important piece of infrastructure that Slane village has had since its foundation 250 years ago,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Save Newgrange campaign welcomed the new public consultation for the N2 Slane bypass. Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange said: “This is a victory for the public who were not given the full information in relation to this grandiose proposal, and yet who are expected to foot the bill.  “We will be waging an international campaign over the next month, particularly in Northern Ireland, to get as many objections has possible filed with An Bord Pleanala. Dr Edgar Morgenroth of the ESRI has called this plan an ‘idiotic’ waste of taxpayer’s money, and we hope more experts like him will make now make submissions. “In the meantime, we are demanding that Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, keep his promise to ‘actively facilitate’ the HGV ban in Slane, which was unanimously voted for by county councillors in April 2009,” Mr Salafia added.

WRITE LETTER TO EDITOR ken@meathchronicle.ie

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The Irish Times – New round of public consultations ordered for proposed Slane bypass

Posted on September 20, 2010 by vincent

New round of public consultations ordered for proposed Slane bypass

The Irish Times – Monday, September 20, 2010

FRANK McDONALD Environment Editor

A NEW round of public consultations on controversial plans for a dual-carriageway bypass of Slane, Co Meath, has been ordered by An Bord Pleanála, with October 15th set as the closing date. A public notice advertising the new round of consultations was published recently in national newspapers. The original consultation period closed on February 25th last.

An Bord Pleanála had sought additional information from Meath County Council on the road scheme, including whether an alternative route running to the west of Slane had been examined. The current proposal, which is being advanced on behalf of the National Roads Authority (NRA), would run to the east of Slane, some 500 metres from the boundary of Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site.

The appeals board also sought alternative designs for a new bridge over the river Boyne, noting that the cable-stayed bridge originally proposed would be visible from the World Heritage Site. It also wanted the council to produce more detailed archaeological and geophysical reports on investigations of 44 archaeological sites that would be affected by the original scheme.

The information was sought “in order to clarify certain points in the environmental impact statement [EIS] and assist the board’s assessment of the likely effects on the environment” of the road. This followed complaints to An Bord Pleanála by the Save Newgrange group, former attorney general John Rogers SC and leading archaeologist Prof George Eogan that the EIS was flawed.

Save Newgrange spokesman Vincent Salafia said: “We will be waging an international campaign over the next month, particularly in Northern Ireland, to get as many objections as possible filed with An Bord Pleanála.”

Posted in Cultural Preservation, Environmental Protection, News, Save Newgrange, Vincent Salafia | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

N2 Slane Bypass Consultation Re-opens | Western Route Options Published

Posted on September 17, 2010 by vincent

SAVE NEWGRANGE – PRESS RELEASE – 17 September 2010

‘N2 Slane Bypass Consultation Re-opens – Western Route Options Published’

The NRA and Meath County Council have today re-opened public consultation on the proposed N2 Slane Bypass, after being ordered to do so by An Bord Pleanala. The public can make or amend submissions to the Bord until October 15 2010.

The western route options for the proposed bypass, which impact Slane Castle, have been published, along with other additional information requested by An Bord Pleanala – including the potential impact on Brú na Bóinne Unesco World Heritage Site and archaeological reports on the sites that will be impacted by the bypass, if it proceeds.

Save Newgrange has already sent this information to the European Commission, to amend the complaint that was registered by the Commission in June of this year. The complaint states that the ‘preferred’ eastern route is too close to Bru na Boinne, passing on 500m from the site – and that the proposed bridge over the Boyne impacts too severely on the Boyne candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which is protected by EU law.

Save Newgrange is also sending this information to a number of other international bodies, including Unesco, World Monuments Fund, and the World Wildlife Fund, in a bid to build an international coalition of concern.

Vincent Salafia said:

“The western route will protect Bru na Boinne and Newgrange, Newgrange is known globally as the oldest building in the world, but will impact on Slane Castle.

“If it comes to a choice between passing 500m from Slane Castle or 500m from Bru na Boinne, it is a no-brainer. But neither important site should be damaged.

“We support the views of ESRI economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth, who recently called the bypass an ‘idiotic’ waste of taxpayers’ money, when a simple HGV ban would solve the traffic problems in Slane, and force HGVs to use the M1 – which is only 5 miles away.

“We call on Minster Dempsey to keep his promise, made last year, to implement the HGV ban, which was voted for unanimously by Meath County Councillors in April 2009.

ENDS

Contact – Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365

MORE INFORMATION

Additional information and maps:

Revised Non Technical Summary Pdf (6 mb)

Further Information Requested by An Bord Pleanála Volume 1 Pdf (25 mb)

Further Information Requested by An Bord Pleanála Volume 2 Pdf (38 mb)

New Unesco web site for Bru na Boinne

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING SUBMISSIONS

According to the legal notice published in The Irish Times and other newspapers in Ireland, on 17 September 2010:

“Submissions or observations in relation to the additional information may be made in writing on payment of a fee of 50 euro to:

An Bord Pleanala, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1

not later than 5.30pm on the 15th October 2010. Telephone 01-858-1000

Posted in Cultural Preservation, Environmental Protection, Heritage Campaigns, News, Save Newgrange, Vincent Salafia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New consultation on N2 Slane bypass a victory for the public

Posted on September 16, 2010 by vincent

Computer generated image of proposed new Boyne Bridge, which will be visible from the World Heritage Site

SAVE NEWGRANGE – PRESS RELEASE – 16 September 2010

‘New consultation on N2 Slane bypass a victory for the public’

Save Newgrange welcomes the new public consultation for the N2 Slane bypass, which is proposed to run 500m from the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site, and impact over 44 associated archaeological sites as well as a candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

An Bord Pleanala (ABP) has ordered Meath County Council (MCC) to publish additional information, and re-open the public consultation for fresh submissions, due to the submission of an incomplete Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by MCC last December.

MCC will publish a new public notice in national newspapers tomorrow, Friday, 17th September, giving the public until Friday 15th October to make submissions to ABP. The original consultation had closed on 25 February 2010.

The additional information relates to:

  • Archaeological and geophysical reports on investigations carried out
  • Whether any alternative route, west of the village, had been considered
  • Relationship to N2 Ashbourne and Ardee project (suspended)
  • Alternative designs for the proposed Boyne bridge, which is visible from the World Heritage Site

The additional information being published by MCC comes in response to a letter from ABP to MCC in June, asking for this information, “in order to clarify certain points in the EIS and assist the Board’s assessment of the likely effects on the environment of the proposed road development.” The information was requested after complaints were made to An Bord Pleanala by Save Newgrange and others that the EIS and public consultation were flawed.

Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange said:

“This is a victory for the public, who were not given the full information in relation to this grandiose proposal, and yet who are expected to foot the bill. We will be waging an international campaign, over the next month, particularly in Northern Ireland, to get as many objections has possible filed with An Bord Pleanala.

“Dr Edgar Morgenroth of the ESRI has called this plan ‘idiotic’, and we hope more experts like him will make now make submissions. In the meantime, we are demanding that Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, keep his promise to ‘actively facilitate’ the HGV ban in Slane, which was unanimously voted for by County Councillors in April 2009.

ENDS

Continue reading →

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‘Force council to implement HGV ban’ – Meath Chronicle. Letter to the Editor by Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange

Posted on September 9, 2010 by vincent

Force council to implement HGV ban

Meath Chronicle – Letters | Wednesday, 8th September, 2010

Dear sir – Slane needs a dual-carriageway bypass (built to motorway standard) like Minister Dempsey needed the (larger) Government jet to go to summer school in Derry. It needs it like County Meath needs three parallel motorways; the M1, M2 and M3, passing within 15 miles of each other with Slane bang in the middle.

The Minister for Meath, Noel Dempsey’s local Fianna Fail underlings, Thomas Byrne, TD, and Cllr Wayne Harding, were, however, correct in saying that powerful forces from outside County Meath were attempting to stop the Slane bypass going ahead. These ominous forces are called taxpayers – occasionally also known as voters – who reside in overrun villages and counties all across Ireland. They are being told they have to pay for this bypass, while many of their own roads’ badly needed improvements were put on hold by Minister Dempsey last December. Even the N2 Ashbourne to Ardee project, which will run through Slane, has been put on hold.

Now, we see hospital services in Navan being curtailed, as part of the radical cuts taking place nationwide. How many lives are now at risk as a result? Wouldn’t the €100 million-plus cost of the bypass be better spent keeping Navan hospital in full operation?

Transport economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth, associate professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, is right to call the Slane bypass plan idiotic, and no better man to complain to the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) if the bypass goes ahead as planned. Gold-plated, as Dr Morgenrath called it, pork-barrel spending like this is what the C&AG watchdog was designed to hunt down and kill.

The Bypass Slane Campaign, which operates out of Cllr Harding’s offices in Slane, has criticised Dr Morgenroth for threatening to exercise his right to complain. They would have us believe that the current bypass plan is the only viable alternative to stopping the HGVs rat-running through Slane every day, to avoid the M1 toll. If the HGVs were gone, there would be no danger in Slane.

Dr Morgenrath wrote in The Irish Economy blog on 1st March:

“The simple, cheap and obvious solution to the problem of HGVs going through Slane is to ban them from doing so…This would also avoid all the hassle of forcing a major construction project through an area rich in archaeological sites and historic significance. However, Meath County Manager Tom Dowling has refused to implement the ban, which Meath County Councillors voted for in early 2009.”

If Deputy Byrne, Cllr Harding and the Bypass Slane Campaign are sincerely alarmed at lives at risk on the roads throughout the village every day, they should be demanding that Noel Dempsey behave like the Minister for Transport and force the county manager to immediately implement the HGV ban, like we are.

Yours,

Vincent Salafia,
Save Newgrange,
The Capel Building,
Mary’s Abbey,
Co Dublin.

Posted in Edgar Morgenroth, Letter to the Editor, Save Newgrange, Vincent Salafia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Slane bypass is ‘idiotic’ says ERSI economist – Dr Edgar Morgenroth

Posted on September 5, 2010 by vincent

The Slane bypass is ‘idiotic’ says ERSI economist

Dr Edgar Morgenroth, Associate Research Professor with the Economic and Social Research Centre (ESRI), believes the Slane bypass is “idiotic”. On 24 April 2009 he wrote an Opinion piece for The Irish Times called ‘Cuts in capital spending need not mean fewer projects‘ in which he argued the challenge for the public service is to negotiate hard for reduced tender prices. Of the N2 Slane bypass he said:

Of course, not all planned infrastructure projects were good projects to start with and some should certainly be abandoned. It is remarkable that there are plans to facilitate the avoidance of the toll on the M1 by building a bypass around Slane involving the expensive construction of a bridge over the river Boyne when a simple HGV ban would solve the local traffic problems.

This expert advice was submitted to An Bord Pleanala, by Save Newgrange, as part of their submission for the planning process, in February 2010. Since then, Dr Morgenroth has written two posts in The Irish Economy blog, saying the N2 Slane bypass is a waste of taxpayers’ money. The first post, 1 March 2010, was entitled ‘Wasting money on roads?‘ and said:

The simple, cheap and obvious solution to the problem of HGVs going through Slane is to ban them from doing so, as I argued in May 2009. This would also avoid all the hassle of forcing a major construction project through an area rich in archaeological sites and historic significance.

The follow-up post, published 25 August 2010, was entitled simply ‘Wasting money on roads‘, wherein Dr Morgenroth said:

Unfortunately gold-plating of projects is not unusual. In the ESRI Mid-Term Evaluation of NDP 2000-2006 we pointed out that “roads with capacity of 55,500 AADT, or anywhere near it, appear to be a significant overdesign for the numerous lightly-trafficked sections of the N8 and N9″. Such schemes cannot pass a reasonable cost-benefit analysis when compared to more appropriately sized schemes.

Unfortunately, the lesson does not seem to have been learned and the tax payer is expected to pay for overdesign again (the fact that some of the schemes are PPPs is irrelevant here as these also have to be paid for by tax payers).

Take the example of the N2, for which there are two proposed schemes in the system. I have already referred to the idiotic scheme to by-pass Slane where the key issue could be simply dealt with via a HGV ban.

Dr Morgenroth’s August blog post was picked up in The Irish Times, by Frank McDonald on 26 August – ‘Planned Slane bypass ‘idiotic’, says transport expert‘.

PLANS FOR a dual-carriageway to bypass the village of Slane, Co Meath, have been described as “idiotic” by Dr Edgar Morgenroth, associate professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute.

Dr Morgenroth, who is the institute’s programme co-ordinator for research on transport and infrastructure, said he would be making a formal complaint to the Comptroller and Auditor General if An Bord Pleanála approved the current proposal.

He also said plans by the National Roads Authority for a 27- kilometre dual-carriageway between Clontibret, Co Monaghan, and the Border at Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, amounted to “total overkill, especially since Monaghan has already been bypassed”.

Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Arguments, Save Newgrange, Vincent Salafia | 2 Comments

Save Newgrange Facebook Group Migration to Facebook PAGE

Posted on August 28, 2010 by vincent

IMPORTANT BULLETIN

Dear Save Newgrange supporters,

We’re victims of our own success in the Save Newgrange Facebook Group, as we went over 5,000 members, which has resulted in the ability send bulletins being automatically disabled by Facebook. We have over 11, 500 members now.

So, basically we need 6.500 people to unsubscribe from the Group and become a fan of the Save Newgrange from the N2 Slane Bypass PAGE. We will be then able to send you bulletins again to keep you updated on the campaign, and you will also see out news in your newsroll on your Facebook home page. Sorry for all this hassle, but it is the only way we can grow.

Technology is really annoying sometimes. We had also started a Save Newgrange Facebook CAUSE, using the Causes application. That has over 5,000 members, and we can still send you emails though that, but the problem with it now is that Facebook deleting all applications from Facebook profiles. So, the Like box for our new Page is the only real way of growing our group on Facebook.

Don’t forget you can follow us on Twitter too, and join our yahoogroup email list.

Cheers,

Vincent Salafia
www.savenewgrange.net

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Irish Times: ‘Powerful forces’ trying to stop Slane bypass – TD

Posted on August 28, 2010 by vincent

‘Powerful forces’ trying to stop Slane bypass – TD

The Irish Times – 28 August 2010
MICHAEL O’REGAN

FIANNA FÁIL TD Thomas Byrne has claimed that “powerful forces” from outside Co Meath were attempting to stop the Slane bypass going ahead. Mr Byrne, who represents Meath East, was joined by Slane FF councillor Wayne Harding in rejecting criticism of the project earlier this week by Dr Edgar Morgenroth, associate professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute. Dr Morgenroth described the proposed bypass as “idiotic” and warned he would make a formal complaint to the Comptroller and Auditor General if An Bord Pleanála approved the current proposal.

The board, which is considering the matter, has asked Meath County Council to supply detailed additional information on the bypass, including whether any alternative route west of the village had been examined. Mr Byrne said Dr Morgenroth’s opinion “smack[ed] of unwarranted interference” in the board’s independence and was highly inappropriate. Mr Byrne said the N2 through Slane village had caused huge concern among the community for years and many people had lost their lives on a relatively short stretch of road.

WRITE TO lettersed@irishtimes.ie

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