Decision made

Published: 10:11 AM August 13, 2009 Updated: 2:40 PM November 1, 2020

SIR - Whilst welcoming the refusal of planning permission for the Helioslough terminal, I find that the view I expressed at one of the earlier public meetings has not changed. It is my belief, and not mine only, that the decision to allow the development

SIR - Whilst welcoming the refusal of planning permission for the Helioslough terminal, I find that the view I expressed at one of the earlier public meetings has not changed. It is my belief, and not mine only, that the decision to allow the development was made long ago, at a high level, and that the appeals procedure is merely a public relations exercise.

The fact that a totally unnecessary loophole was provided when the plan was rejected only serves to confirm my opinion.

I have seen no challenge to the suggestion that, when built, the site will generate 3,000 lorry movements per day. Any company working on a project of this size and cost will have developed many projections of future activity, and one such projection will have been a spectrum of possible traffic levels covering from best to worst cases. It would be interesting to know what the Helioslough projections showed and astonishing if they did not present in their application the best-case scenario. Regrettably, the Freedom of Information Act probably cannot be used to force disclosure of the internal workings at the company.

N GERALD