Northern Ireland

Casement Park: GAA 'frustration' as planning process enters 1,000th day

Casement Park has been closed since 2013. This is what the new one will resemble should the GAA get planning permission
Casement Park has been closed since 2013. This is what the new one will resemble should the GAA get planning permission Casement Park has been closed since 2013. This is what the new one will resemble should the GAA get planning permission

THE chair of the Casement Park GAA stadium project has expressed his "deep frustration" at delays in the planning process 1,000 days since an application was submitted.

Tom Daly said the proposed redevelopment in west Belfast continues to be "encumbered by a prolonged planning process", but Ulster GAA remains "resolutely committed" to the project.

The GAA first announced it wanted to build a major new stadium more than a decade ago, but the troubled project has faced numerous setbacks.

Revised plans were submitted in February 2017 with a reduced spectator capacity of around 34,000. The proposal is still being assessed by planning officials.

In March it emerged the projected cost of the new stadium has risen to £110 million – over 40 per cent more than the £77.5m originally budgeted.

Stormont had pledged £62.5m with the GAA providing £15m, but GAA chiefs want more public money to help plug the shortfall.

Civil servants say they cannot allocate more funding without ministerial approval.

In a letter last week to GAA units in Ulster, Mr Daly said that today [Monday 25th November] marks 1,000 days since Ulster GAA submitted its revised application.

"I am writing to you to communicate our deep frustration that the plans for a new Provincial Stadium at Casement Park continue to be encumbered by a prolonged planning process," he said.

Mr Daly said they have submitted a "final draft version" of the project's new business case to the Department for Communities.

He said that "subject to planning approval and securing the additional investment required, we remain hopeful that work could commence in 2020".

Casement's redevelopment is part of a Stormont programme which also pledged major upgrades to Belfast sports grounds for soccer and rugby.

The redeveloped Ravenhill rugby ground Kingspan Stadium opened in 2014 while Windsor Park followed in 2016.

Mr Daly said the completion of Kingspan and Windsor are "bringing significant benefits to their members and to wider society", and Ulster GAA is "determined" that its members and new visitors "will enjoy similar benefits".

"Everyone at Ulster GAA is resolutely committed to the delivery of this project and to ensuring you, our members, benefit from the investment in major stadium infrastructure with a modern fit for purpose provincial stadium and a new home for Antrim gaelic games," he said.

A local residents' group – which mounted a successful legal challenge against previous plans for a 38,000-capacity stadium – remains opposed to the revised application, saying it is "not a significant reduction" in capacity.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which is examining the plans, said it "recognises the importance of the planning application".

"We appreciate that there is frustration at the time taken to process it, however this is a complex proposal where different views and concerns are apparent," a spokeswoman said.

She said DfI has met the applicant's team "with a further meeting planned, to see how a small number of outstanding issues related to roads matters can be progressed".

The department was asked to clarify whether it is legally able to grant planning approval in the absence of ministers.

The spokeswoman said: "We are working hard to progress the planning application to the point where it is ready for a decision to be made.

"The next stages will depend on the political and legislative context that applies at that point."