Objectors have their say on harbour reclamation plan

Both Friends of Larne Lough (FoLL) and Larne Boat Club were presented at a meeting in Larne Borough Council last week.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Gregg McKeen chaired the meeting, which was organised by the council after Planning Service indicated it intended to approve the Port of Larne application for infilling to increase its truck marshalling area. Port management was represented, along with FoLL spokesman John Anderson and Graham Glass, chairman of the boat club.

Later, Mr Anderson said Planning Service had been guided in its decision-making by data provided by the applicant.

“They did not carry out their own research and they did not consult with their own landscape branch in the Northern Ireland Environment Agency which - given the fact that the 2010 Area Plan emphasises the attractive East Antrim landscapes and given that Larne is supposed to be a tourist gateway - is just stupid,” he added.

Noting that Cllr McKeen was the only councillor present, Mr Anderson said he urged planning officials to examine any aerial photograph of Larne harbour “and they will see there is no lack of space”.

Mr Anderson added: “Friends of Larne Lough has no problem with the port, but this business of failing to engage with the council, with residents or anybody else is what used to be done 30 or 40 years ago and should not be the way that planning is done now.”

Larne Boat Club, whose club house and slipway are on land owned by the Port of Larne, claimed its 70 members had not been consulted about the harbour scheme which, if approved and implemented, would effectively be the end of the 80-year-old group.

Mr Glass told Planning Service that the club held title to a Crown Estate lease on the foreshore, adding that the Environment Agency would not issue the port authority with a FEPA licence - which permits construction within the marine environment, or the deposition of materials at sea - until the issue of the lease was resolved.

He said he believed Planning Service had not given “appropriate regard” to public rights of way and public access to the foreshore and queried the Department’s consideration of the protection afforded in the Area Plan to Olderfleet Castle as an historical monument if it was to be in close proximity to security fencing and floodlighting.

The club chairman said planners had to take account of vulnerable landscapes and wildlife habitats, pointing out that in an environmental statement referring to the proposed development it was noted there are otters in the area around Curran Point.

“We are not aware that an impact survey has been done or even proposed in relation to these protected animals,” he added, referring also to the absence of any environmental statement on the impact of the development on tidal flow.

Arguing that an additional marshalling area within meters of residential homes would produce increased noise and light pollution”, the boat club was also sceptical of the benefit of an extended lorry park, saying it would not result in “any significant addition employment for the borough”.