EQ4- Conflicts between rural stakeholders North Antrim Coast

Question 1

Provide context for the North Antrim
coastline.

Answer 1

-The antrim county is located in the North East of Northern Ireland
-The Giant’s causeway was a designated world heritage site in 1986 because of its unique geology and striking landscape
-Attarcts over 1 million tourists per year
-A fire destroyed the old visitor center in 2000.

Question 2

What does the Giants causeway visitor center provide?

Answer 2

Provides 75 full time jobs

Question 3

What are the challenges for local communities caused by the giants causeway visitor center?

Answer 3

-Overtourism (too many visitors)
-Money spent on parking etc goes to the national trust, not the local community 😐
-Community access to the site is now limited by the national trust, despite having had access to it for thousands of years
-65% of the community were not involved in the tourist industry, so make little monetary gain or contribute to tourism
development

Question 4

What do the different stakeholders view as success at north antrim coastline?

Answer 4

National trust- increased visitor numbers, increased revenue
Moyle district council- more employment, higher tax revenues
Local community- less disruption due to tourist numbers
Trans link (public transport network)- increased demand for services, more profits
Local businesses- more customers, more profits.

Question 5

What do developers want to do at North antrim coast?

Answer 5

Developers want to further exploit the economic potential of the giants causeway site by building hotels and a golf course.

Question 6

What conflicts were created at north antrim because of the proposed golf course?

Answer 6

-Developlememt plans to create Bushmills Dunes Golf Resort and Spa at Runkerry
-Runkerry is 500 meters away from the giants causeway, which led to objections from environmentalists
-Due to strong opposition and inadequate finances, the golf course did not go ahead.

Question 7

What caused conflict at north antrim?

Answer 7

-Developers wanting to build golf course and hotels to further exploit economic potential of the area.
-BUT there’s strong opposition as the causeways world heritage status prevents overdevelopment.
-Also opposition from environmentalists e.g, The national trust and UNESCO