Debate contribution: A5 Western Transport Corridor Scheme

Debate contribution by Mr Gary Middleton on 22 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Gary Middleton

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

22 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

A5 Western Transport Corridor Scheme

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5124071

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The debate has been disappointing, particularly the opening contribution. Today's party political point-scoring has been no different from the SDLP posters that have appeared along the route. People see through that type of political posturing. People want to see progress and solutions. Anybody who believes that the motion that the Opposition has tabled will bring about solutions will be bitterly disappointed. In fairness to Members across the Chamber, I acknowledge that a number of common themes have been raised. The first has been the issue of families and those who have been bereaved. I add my sympathies not only to those who have lost loved ones on the road but to those who have been seriously injured along the route. The outcome of the judgement and the A5 scheme delay has understandably caused great upset to those families and to the campaigners who have long championed the project in the name of road safety. That is deeply disappointing, and it was a difficult ruling for them. Of course, those of us who are involved with bereavement charities that support families who have lost loved ones as a result of road traffic collisions hear from them daily, and the last thing that they want to hear is the sort of cheap, party political point-scoring that we have heard from some across the Chamber today. Another theme was the benefits of the A5. We all recognise that there are economic benefits, including jobs and prosperity for the north-west region. That those benefits are valued goes without saying. The judgement has also caused significant distress and uncertainty for landowners and farming families whose livelihoods have been placed in limbo for well over a decade. They still seek clarity and guidance on their future. Farmers have had their land ripped up, and, in some cases, it will be unable to be farmed again. That has caused a lot of devastation. Local people are crying out for clarity on the future of the project and where it is going.

Once again, the project has been brought to a grinding halt. The judgement was based on climate legislation. My party warned against the kind of damaging consequences that could come out of that. We warned about the unrealistic targets that are in the legislation. It was pushed through by the SDLP, Sinn Féin and the Alliance Party. We warned that it would tie the Department's hands in the future. The very politicians who championed that legislation are now lamenting its impact. It is a stunning display of political virtue-signalling coming home to roost. Those politicians celebrated the passing of the climate change legislation believing that they could have not only their headline-grabbing climate change targets but their major infrastructure projects. Of course, they were proven wrong. This is not just about the A5, as important as it is. The ruling also sets a dangerous precedent for other major infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland, not least phase 2 of the A6 project, which could be impacted on in the future. The time for empty rhetoric and point-scoring is over. We need clarity and leadership, particularly from the Department. In the interim, I ask that the Minister continue to look at road safety measures and at what we can do in the meantime to prevent further deaths and incidents on the road. We also have to send out the message that we need people to drive carefully on the roads and to be mindful of the fact that, when we are behind the wheel of a vehicle, we all have a responsibility to ensure safety. In the main, this was a fairly productive debate, albeit some disappointing remarks came from the usual sidelines.

620 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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