Lough Neagh dredgers get permission to suck up 1.5m tonnes from bed annually

If otters are found, work is to stop immediately

A long-running battle over dredging in Lough Neagh has been resolved in favour of the dredgers, with the government giving the go-ahead for 1.5 million tonnes of material to be lifted from the lake bed every year.

The application was first lodged in 2017 for sand and gravel extraction, and the News Letter has discovered that it now has the green light – albeit subject to conditions.

Back in October, SDLP infrastructure minister Nichola Mallon said she was minded for the project to proceed; now, that permission is official.

The issue has long been a bone of contention for environmental groups concerned about the potential for harming wildlife.

The dredging is done by barges which use suction pumps to hoover up the bed of the lough, which is the UK’s biggest freshwater lake, and is designated an area of Special Scientific Interest and a Wetland of International Importance.

It is an average of only 29ft deep (but goes down to 112ft in a trench in the lough’s north-western side).

A planning report in 2018 set out the history behind the scheme, saying that five different businesses had come together under the umbrella of the Lough Neagh Sand Traders to make the application.

“The extraction of sand from the bed of Lough Neagh has been a long-established practice, ongoing for approx. 70 years, albeit without the benefit of planning permission,” the report said.