An independent review is to take place into the advice given the Department of Regional Development on the A5 road upgrade.
The upgrade – costing in the region of £500 million – was abandoned last year when the High Court ruled the Department should have carried out a full assessment of the scheme under the EU Habitats Directive.
Now, Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy has ordered an independent review his Department received from a consultant.
Mr Kennedy was responding to Sinn Fein MLA Phil Flanagan who had asked who had advised such an assessment was not needed.
Mr Kennedy said a “screening exercise” had carried out by Mouchel, the infrastructure firm that is the main consultant on the project, and that he had ordered “an independent review of the project consultant’s work in respect of the completion of the appropriate assessment process.”
The project has already cost almost £60m, although it is now not clear when construction work will start.
