In early 2021, after a hiatus of over a decade, building works began on a luxury housing estate in South Belfast on the right bank of the River Lagan. Within the Lagan Valley’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – Northern Ireland’s oldest and smallest designated AONB – visitors to ‘Lagan Lands East’ began to notice the presence of enormous ‘spoil heaps’, adjacent to the housing site. These huge mounds of soil, dumped on a grass meadow near Galwalley Stream, were not only drowning the meadow, but blocked the natural paths local people had walked for years. In this episode, we talk to one such local walker, Drew, who sought answers about the spoil heaps and dumping ground and took his cause – to ensure rights of way and a halt on further environmental damage - to the public, political representatives and to Belfast City Council. Is Lagan Lands East lost or can paradise be regained?
Presented by Sue-Ann Harding,Colin Shaw

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