After Alex Attwood granted planning permission for the construction of a £100m golf resort and hotel near the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim in February 2012, the National Trust pursued a judicial review against the decision due to the proximity of the development to the Unesco world heritage site.
However, Mr Justice Weatherup has rejected all grounds of challenge to the planning decision. As a result, developers have said that work will start as soon as possible on what Dr. Alistair Hanna, who has been driving the proposals, said would be one of the "most spectacular golf developments ever seen in Ireland".
The development will be on a 365-acre site and will include an 18 hole golf course, a five star 120-bedroom hotel and 70 golf lodges. The National Trust had argued that because the Giant's Causeway is a world heritage site, Unesco should have been consulted before Mr Attwood took his decision. Mr Justice Weatherup, however, said that world heritage convention guidelines had no standing in UK law.
In a statement, the National Trust said "We still believe that if a development of this scale does go ahead in this location, the message is that nowhere in Northern Ireland, no matter how important or protected, is safe from development." They added, "The ruling today has served to highlight aspects of very serious concern for those partners involved in the care and protection of the world heritage site."
