The main concerns of the action group and the residents are the dust, noise levels and the damage to the landscape. Viewing the mountain from the distance it appears to have what looks like a large bite out of it.
The Black Mountain stretches from Hannahstown hill in the west of the city and disappears from view in the north of the city around Cavehill. It has many features such as the Hatchet field and Bottle field named because of their unusual shape which can be seen from most areas of the city.
The map on the next page highlights some details to the height and various sections of the mountain.
Task 2 Find out the different groups involved in this issue.
White Mountain Quarries are in favour of the quarry, as they own it. Peter Lagan from Derry bought the quarry in the late fifties. To start he only had one lorry and some second hand equipment. Within five years Mr. Lagan had forty lorries and millions of pounds worth of equipment. They also own a Cement Company and Tarmac firm. At the minute they are making the runways for the Hong Kong Airport. The Lagans are the largest family business in Northern Ireland.
Some of the local residents want the quarry to stay open as they work there
or they work for one of the companies who use material from the quarry.
Black Mountain Action Group is a locally based group, which was set up in 1988 to stop White Mountain Quarries from continuing. They have put together a photograph exhibition of the quarry. They run health study to examine effects on nearby residents, incase they inhale too much dust this is very important for people who have asthma especially young children. They’ve also recorded changes in the last 20 years.
Some of the local residents want the quarry to close because of the dust, noise
levels and also because of the scenery.
Task 3 Select one group likely to be in favour of quarrying and one
likely to be opposed.
Some of the local residents don’t want the quarry to close as they either work there or they work for one of the companies that buy raw materials from the quarry, and they are worried if the quarry closes that they will lose their jobs.
The owner wouldn’t want it to close as they have made a lot of money also he might want to past it on to his children or his grandchildren. He has put a lot of money into buying an automatic sprinkling system which shows he cares about the people.
Black Mountain Action Group want the quarry to close as they are standing up for all the people who want the quarry to close as people are suffering because of it. Also because the quarry is getting too big and is ruining the skyline. The noise from the blasting is also very disturbing especially for young children. The group has made a photo exhibition which shows people the state of the quarry. The group were also winners of Bryson house “Better Belfast” award.
