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The DUP has attempted to bin a Climate Change Act introduced by its own MLA Edwin Poots amid fears it will "shackle" major developments in Newry . Concerns £200m of local investment could potentially be put at risk was heard in the chamber following a court ruling quashing plans for the estimated £1.7bn A5 road. However, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council's (NMDDC) environment committee voted the "half-baked" proposal to repeal the Act down by a majority vote this week. READ MORE: 'Sinister' voice message threat to councillors investigated by PSNI READ MORE: Man allegedly armed with hatchet arrested outside NI Cathedral Bringing forward the motion, Mournes DUP councillor, Henry Reilly said: "This council requests the Northern Ireland Assembly to repeal the NI Climate Change Act (2022) and replace it with workable legislation." Former Minister for Agriculture, Edwin Poots bill had set legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for net zero by 2050, with interim targets of at least a 48% reduction by 2030 and a 70% reduction by 2040. Mr Poots and then Green Party leader Clare Bailey had both proposed climate change bills, however Ms Bailey withdrew her bill. As his bill was approved, Mr Poots described it as an “important piece of legislation” and said it would “impact on the Executive and Assembly for decades to come”. In the NMDDC chamber, sitting in Warrenpoint Town Hall this week, Cllr Reilly added: "To de-carbonise the economy and society will have long term detrimental effects. "Sucking in imports of solar panels and wind turbines that are manufactured almost exclusively in China, makes no sense whatsoever to leave our country open to the whims of a totalitarian world power. "The NMDDC aspect, we can see how the 2022 NI Climate Change Act has led to the virtual abandonment of the vital A5 road development. And we should be concerned the Act is being used at the moment to block the new civic centre in Newry and will be used to stop other vital projects such as the Newry southern relief road and Ballynahinch bypass. "To make it possible to develop vital infrastructure developments and agriculture we must remove the shackles of this Act for workable legislation." At the High Court in Belfast (June), Justice McAlinden ruled the construction of the A5 western corridor between Derry and Aughnacloy, should not go ahead in its current form because the plans do not comply with government's climate change targets. Controversial plans for a new council HQ at Abbey Way in the city estimated at £17m is the subject of a pre-action letter for an application for judicial review (19 Sept). The southern relief road will link the main Belfast to Dublin roads with the A2 Warrenpoint to Newry dual carriageway. The project is expected to cost between £110m and £130m, much of which is due to come from the Belfast Region City Deal (£93.4m, external). The long-awaited Ballynahinch bypass estimated at up to £60m is due to begin the next three years. Slieve Gullion Sinn Fein councillor, Martin Hearty said:"I find this motion slightly bizarre coming from Cllr Reilly. Every single major party in the Assembly voted in favour of this Act, including Cllr Reilly's own party. "It wasn't a mistake or something down in the spur of the moment, every single line was gone through painstakingly over a period of weeks in the Assembly. "Not only did his party vote in favour of it, but it was his party colleague Minister Poots who introduced the Climate Change Act. "Frankly, I'd be mortified if this council wrote to the Assembly with such an ill thought-out and half baked motion." A vote of 11 against and two for defeated the motion. For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
