National Trust Begins Golf Resort Block Bid

The National Trust has begun its bid to block the building of a new £100m golf course and resort near the Giant’s Causeway on the north coast.

The Trust has taken the matter to the High Court, as it attempts to challenge a decision by the Department of the Environment to grant permission for the Bushmills Dunes project.

The judicial review is expected to last three days.

The National Trust claims the building of the new course a mile-and-a-half from the Giant’s Causeway would cause irreparable damage to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Bushmills Dunes project would see the construction of a luxury golf resort and spa with a hotel and garden residences outside the village of Bushmills in County Antrim.

Developers claim it will create approximately 360 direct jobs and an estimated further 300 through suppliers and construction.

The original plans were submitted over ten years ago, but the National Trust has resisted the proposal from the offset.

In December, the Trust sent letters to its 60,000 Northern Ireland members, saying: "World Heritage Site status is the highest conservation and heritage accolade that any place can achieve, and is awarded by the international body, UNESCO. The land on which this would be built has been identified in the draft Northern Area plan as an area that should be protected and where such development should not take place.

"As the guardians of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site, we have a duty to care for it for ever."

But US-based Northern Ireland man Dr Alistair Hanna, who is leading the investment and advisory team, said: "The location of the resort is more sensitively appropriate than much of what the NT itself has seen fit to build within the confines of the World Heritage Site. The buildings are 1.5 miles from the Causeway, will be totally invisible to it and will provide a place for visitors to stay in a five-star resort with lots of activities to keep them in the area."

(IT)