Derry Chamber President says quashing of A5 is “wholly unnecessary”

The President of the Chamber of Commerce in Derry says the quashing of approval for the A5 Western Transport Corridor scheme is “hugely disappointing and wholly unnecessary”.
Jennifer McKeever was speaking after a High Court judge quashed the Department for Infrastructure’s decision to approve the project on the basis that there is no minister in place.
Ms Mc Keeever says the High Court order to quash approval for the A5 Derry to Dublin road scheme on the basis that it was not not signed off by a minister is a major blow to the North West.
In a statement issued this afternoon, she says the shelving of the A5 project is the latest evidence that the North West economy continues to count the cost of the inability of our politicians to form a Government.
She says when the scheme was approved, the business community in the Derry City cross border region had high hopes that decades of lobbying had finally paid off – now it seems we have been let down once again.
Long awaited work on modernising the Derry to Dublin route should be well underway but the power-sharing vacuum at Stormont has delayed this vital scheme further.
Ms Mc Keever concludes despite Brexit dominating the news, it can’t be forgotten that issues of connectivity and access to staff, customers and markets continue to be a primary concern for Chamber members.