Assembly Committee Welcomes Public Enquiry into New Electricity Lines

The Assembly Committee for the Environment today welcomed the announcement by Minister Edwin Poots MLA that a Public Enquiry is to be held on Northern Ireland Electricity’s North/South Interconnector planning application. The planning application is to allow installation of an overhead electricity line through Armagh and parts of Tyrone to support the provision of an all-island electricity market.

Committee Chairperson, Cathal Boylan MLA, said: “The Committee lobbied the Department of the Environment for a public enquiry into the planning application after receiving letters of concern from Armagh and Dungannon Councils and a local community group over the installation of an overhead line instead of underground.

“The Minister’s announcement today will come as a relief to people in the areas affected. They will now have the opportunity to make their serious concerns known directly to the Planning Appeals Commission.”

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