 PRESS RELEASE
Minister gives green light to Lafarge plans to transform Magheramorne Works and Quarry
26-6-09
Planning permission was granted in Northern Ireland today for Lafarge Cement UK’s redevelopment of the company’s redundant Works and Quarry at Magheramorne on the shore of Larne Lough, 22 miles north of Belfast.
Northern Ireland Environment Minister Sammy Wilson approved plans submitted by Lafarge in May 2006 which will see the bulk of the 153 hectare site transformed into a major recreational and leisure attraction with a World Cycling Centre as the central feature. The Centre aims to be one of the best venues in Europe for downhill mountain biking and is expected to play host to televised World Cup events.
An All-Ireland Scuba Diving Centre, taking advantage of a large lake in the quarry, also features amongst the recreational and leisure elements, as does a short heritage railway line and historic railway visitor centre for the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. The plans also include many opportunities for bird watching and enjoying the outlook over the lough.
On 15 hectares of the site, on land where the cement works buildings once operated, a new 450-dwelling harbour village is to be created. Buildings here will be at the forefront of eco-friendly design. Lafarge is to forego all profit it would ordinarily receive from obtaining residential land values on this part of the site in order to help subsidise additional costs associated with the ultra-green development as well as to help with the establishment of the recreational and leisure uses which would not otherwise be viable operations.
Lafarge Cement UK land and planning director, David Simms explains: “For the best part of a hundred years, the cement works at Magheramorne was a major employer in the area and a fundamental part of the day-to-day life of the local community. This project is a big ‘thank you’ to the local community. It is not about making money, it is about leaving a legacy from which the next generation can benefit, at the same time as creating an exemplar of how we can all live our lives in a more environmentally-conscious way.
“In 2000, Lafarge was the first industrial company to become a WWF Conservation Partner. Now we are working with WWF to establish the harbour village at Magheramorne as one of the very first One Planet Initiative Communities in which residents aim to use only their fair share of the earth’s resources.”
Also included in the future plans for the site is land for the establishment of international film and television studios. Over the past five years, both the old works area and the quarry have been used for a variety of productions including the BBC’s thriller Messiah.
Lafarge Cement UK’s rating and regeneration manager, Lloyd McInally, who has project managed the plans for Magheramorne, is very positive about the significant benefits that will result from proposals: “The site – equivalent in size to 220 football pitches – is the largest ‘previously-used’ or ‘brownfield’ site awaiting redevelopment in Northern Ireland and represents a unique opportunity to transform the fortunes of the local and regional economy. It is expected that 400 jobs will be created once the development is complete and many millions of pounds spent on the site and locally by visitors to the various attractions.
“The local Belfast-Larne railway line will also receive a boost with many more people using Magheramorne Station which is to be integrated within the new development.
“The potential of the Magheramorne site will come as a real surprise to many people in Northern Ireland. Maybe some people will remember the Works from back in the 1980s when cement production and quarrying was in full swing, but the fact is that for a site of its size it is visibly well hidden. But I now expect awareness of Magheramorne to increase enormously and for it to become a ‘must visit’ location on the Antrim Coast.”
Town Planning and Urban Design consultancy, David Lock Associates, have acted as lead consultants and master planners on the project since work began in 2002 on formulating a new future for the site. Jim Urwin, director of the company, says: “There are many aspects of the Magheramorne site which have made it a very special project. There is the sheer size of it and the drama of the quarry faces. There is the challenge of working next to Larne Lough (which is a Special Protection Area because of its birdlife), and of finding uses for the site that will bring real benefits to the area and which can be made to work alongside one another.
“Then there is the amazing support we have had from the people in the local community who have worked with us on our plans almost since the outset. Never before have I known members of the public to come forward and ask to man our exhibitions when we first told them of our intention to hold a series of public consultation events.”
Also special is the planning case put forward in support of the proposal. The Belfast office of Turley Associates has provided local town planning services and managed the planning application and environmental assessment processes. Turley Director, Dr. Michael Gordon, says: “There is no statutory plan which foresaw the closure of the cement works and what might be put in its place. Given that the site is not defined as being within an urban area, the onus has been on the applicant to illustrate exceptional circumstances ‘in the public interest’ to justify the residential element within the overall proposal. It is these special circumstances which the Minister has acknowledged today in giving the go-ahead for the project.”
On the future timetable for the project, Lloyd McInally says: “Now that we have the confidence of having obtained an outline planning permission, we will be continuing our discussions more intensely with the many organisations we have established contact with during the last few years. Then we will move towards the submission of detailed plans for approval by the authorities. I would like to think that some development work could start on the site as early as next year.”
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Notes to Editors
- A Notice of Approval has today been issued by the Minister for the Environment. It is now for his officers in the Northern Ireland Planning Service to finalise the conditions to be attached to the planning permission prior to formal issue of the approval. This should take place shortly.
- Cement production ceased at Magheramorne in 1990. Silos continued to be used for the storage of imported cement until 2001 when the Works officially closed, although for a further year some of the buildings were let to the third parties for non-cement purposes. There is no planning requirement for the site to be restored in any way.
- Larne Lough is a Special Protection Area (SPA), designated under European Directive EEC-79-409, commonly known as the Birds Directive. It is internationally important for breeding terns and wintering light-bellied brent geese. Larne Lough is also an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI), a national site designation, for saltmarsh habitats and other wintering waterbirds. The proposals for the Magheramorne site include mitigation measures to ensure that the wildlife features are protected and enhanced, including buffer zones around the lough shore and areas set aside as nature reserves.
- Images of the site and plans of the proposals are contained in a separate media pack (with own index of contents) available at the site announcement Friday 26 June 2009 10.15am. Also included in the pack is a computer-generated fly-through film of the proposed development.
- More details on the site and the proposal can be found at www.magworks.info. For further information on WWF’s One Planet Initiative please go to www.wwf.org.uk and enter ‘One Planet Initiative’ into the search box.
For further information, please contact:
Lafarge Cement UK - Michele Wheatley – 07881 731658
David Lock Associates - Jim Urwin, director - 01908 666276
Turley Associates (Belfast) - Thomas Bell / Dr Michael Gordon – 028 90897400 |
