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Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, Sam Gardiner MLA, has welcomed the decision by British retailers to ban traditional light bulbs by 2011.

His comments come following news that major retailers would phase out 150 watt bulbs in 2008, 100 watt in in 2009, 40 watt in 2010 and all others in 2011. The first store to act will be the Co-op which would stop selling old fashioned tungsten bulbs next month.

“I have been campaigning for the abandonment of the old fashioned incandescent light bulbs for two years now,” explained Mr Gardiner.

“Last year I had a free give-away of new low-energy fluorescent light bulbs in my High Street, Lurgan constituency office and there was a very big take-up by the public. This new plan will cut carbon emissions by 5 million tonnes a year. So it is very good news for the environment.”

“I am also pleased that, for once, the UK is ahead of the rest of the European Union in this. New rules banning the old fashioned incandescent light bulbs will niot be introduced in Europe until after 2011. So we are ahead of the field.”

“80 per cent of bulbs sold in UK stores are old fashioned high-energy bulbs, even though fluorescent bulbs use 75 per cent less energy and last up to 12 times longer. New fluorescent light bulbs can reduce electricity bills by £9 per per per bulb, or by £100 over the bulb’s average lifetime,” explained the MLA.

“So it makes good financial sense for people to make the switch now and it is also good for the environment.”

Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has congratulated “brilliant” Broughshane on bringing yet another superb award to the locality when the village was named as overall winner of this year’s Britain in Bloom awards.

Dr Coulter said he was “very proud” of the village, and the latest accolade was “tremendous news for the borough” coming hot on the heels of Broughshane collecting the Best Kept Small Town in Ireland Award earlier this summer.

He added the latest award reinforced the village’s sterling reputation as “a beacon for the whole community throughout the Province to follow”.

“I could have told anyone that it was the prettiest village in Northern Ireland, but now we have independent confirmation of it,” said a delighted Dr Coulter.

“What is particularly pleasing are the extremely positive comments the judges made about the village, quite apart from the award itself. They described Broughshane’s entry as outstanding, bold, imaginative and forward-looking.

“That and the fact the whole community were involved in the effort is a great boost for North Antrim.

“It certainly was quite an achievement for Broughshane to fend off the competition from 68 other finalists. I don’t think we in Northern Ireland say enough about our achievements. We are a self-effacing and naturally shy people.

“We should really celebrate this great achievement. It will do a lot for the tourist potential of what is already a very beautiful part of the Province.”

Assemblyman Dr Coulter, himself a former Mayor of Ballymena for three terms in the mid 1990s, said it was “not surprising” Broughshane had scooped yet another prestigious award, given the “superb portfolio” of accolades the village had achieved over the years.

He added: “We are now living in an era when caring for our environment and keeping our localities neat and tidy are becoming major community issues.

“Broughshane has become a shining example of how people from the local community can bond together to take a real pride in the appearance and environmental development of their neighbourhoods.

“I would highly commend the sterling example of Broughshane to other local communities throughout our North Antrim constituency and wholeheartedly congratulate all the residents of Broughshane who helped bring this brilliant honour to the region,” said Assemblyman Dr Coulter.

UUP DCAL spokesman David McNarry won Committee backing today to demand a full explanation by DUP Minister Edwin Poots as to why his department wants to ‘surrender’ £1.5 Million this year for the implementation of the proposed Ulster Scots Academy.

The Department of Culture Arts and Leisure is surrendering * £1.5 Million of the budget allocated for the implementation of the Academy for this year. The Committee has decided not to approve the surrender until a fuller explanation from the Department on the rationale and whether the money from this year can be re-couped next year.

In a statement after the Committee met today, Mr McNarry said,

“I have been following with great interest the development of the Ulster Scots Academy and am keen to see this project come to fruition at the earliest opportunity. I know, from my own constituency in Newtwonards, that much preparatory work is being undertaken and plans are being made based on the existing budget allocation.

I was therefore alarmed to hear from the Minister and his department that they are surrendering, for surrender is exactly what it is, £1.5 Million of the budget for this year, while this vital preparatory and planning work is underway.

I am delighted that the Committee has accepted my recommendation not to give our blessing to the surrender of this money until the Minister can assure us that it is retrievable next year and offers us a fuller explanation for the rationale of this move.

I personally am against any surrendering of funds to what I see is a vital component in the present and future development and celebration of Ulster Scots Culture.”

Mr Robin Swann, a senior member of the Ulster Unionist Party’s North Antrim Association Management Committee, has said the war against lignite mining in the North Antrim constituency “is still on”.

Mr Swann made his statement after attending a meeting in Ballymoney of the Collective Objectors to Lignite Development Limited (COLD Ltd), the pressure group formed to opposed plans to build a lignite mine in the region.

Mr Swann was representing his fellow North Antrim Ulster Unionist, Assemblyman Rev Dr Robert Coulter, who is currently in India attending the 53rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Plenary Conference in New Delhi.

As well as his membership of the North Antrim UUP Management Committee, Mr Swann is treasurer of the Ballymena UUP Division and secretary of the Kellswater UUP branch.

Mr Swann added: “While some may think the battle is over, the war is definitely not. The lignite will always be there as an exploitable resource and North Antrim constituents should be under no illusion that the commercial mining sector has the ability and resolve to see this as a long-term project.

“I would comment those involved with COLD Ltd for their own resolve and commitment to oppose the lignite mining proposal in what may seem at times to be an uphill and lonely struggle.

“I would appeal to the entire North Antrim community to rally behind COLD and the anti-mining campaign and applaud the group on its positive approach to further develop the renewable energy sector within its region.

“On behalf of Rev Dr Coulter MLA and myself, I thank COLD Ltd for its very professional and informative presentation on the current energy market and resources in Northern Ireland.

“COLD Ltd has clearly demonstrated that the only possible reason for the development of a lignite mining project was to produce electricity for export and there was no need for it for the local market in Ulster.

“The North Antrim community, and indeed the entire Northern Ireland population, needs to be in no doubt about the major environmental threat this lignite mining proposal presents should it ever get the go-ahead.

“It would increase Northern Ireland’s entire greenhouse gas of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30 per cent, whereas the British Government and other nations’ targets is to reduce CO2 emissions globally.”

Mr Swann said a “major concern” of the anti-mining campaigners was the “stagnant feeling” which was now entering the area because the new planned North Area Development Plan showed the so-called “lignite exploitation zone” was actually three times bigger than in the previous plan.

“There is also the danger the new plan restricts any new homes being built or new businesses started within this lignite exploitation zone.

“Added to this is the danger that any planned housing development outside this so-called zone may also be rejected to ensure new homes do not conflict was any future expansion of the exploitation zone.

“These threats, added to the as yet unclear resolution to the PPS14 planning crisis, is piling even more strain on residents and families within North Antrim’s rural community.

“Even within the lignite exploitation zone, the pressures are already extreme on rural communities and these new planned restrictions are stifling any development on progression to get them resolved.

“There is also the additional crisis that 500 residents from the constituency have been brought into this new zone which the planners are dubbing the Lignite Protection Zone. It is not the lignite inn the ground which requires protection, but the local people , the constituency’s environment and their future which should be protected,” said Mr Swann.

Ulster Unionist MLA Billy Armstrong has called for the Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre to be rebuilt by Government and the Public Sector in order to ensure that both the Causeway site and the surrounding area are safeguarded for future generations.

The Mid-Ulster MLA and member of the Assembly’s Environment Committee said;

“The Giant’s Causeway is recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO and is one of the jewels in the crown of Northern Ireland tourism. There is no doubt that the site both deserves and requires a world class visitors’ centre.

While I am normally a supporter of private sector involvement, I believe that in the case of Northern Ireland’s only World Heritage site an exception has to be made in order to safeguard the site and its surrounding area for future generations.

I have long held the opinion that the best solution is for the key stakeholders to get together and agree a way forward whereby the National Trust, Moyle District Council, the Department of the Environment and DETI work in partnership so that this vital asset remains wholly in public hands.

It is clear that this view is shared by Moyle and Coleraine Councils and the National Trust. I therefore call upon the relevant Ministers to work in partnership with these bodies to ensure that the integrity of the Causeway site and its surrounding area is protected both now and for the future by retaining ownership in public hands. This is an early test for new Ministers, a new Executive and a new Assembly. It is a test we must not fail.”

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Sir Reg Empey has appointed Carrickfergus Cllr. Mark Cosgrove as Trade and Tourism spokesperson.

Speaking on the on-going Giants Causeway fiasco Mr Cosgrove said,

“Following last weeks daily DUP pantomime which dragged Northern Ireland’s prime natural tourism asset into disrepute, I would call on all parties to start providing some much needed transparency.

Firstly and critically, it now appears that far from being a casual acquaintance as was suggested, Ian Paisley Jnr knows the potential private sector developer Mr Sweeney well. It also appears that he has put his DUP colleague and fellow Northern Ireland Executive minister Arlene Foster in a very difficult position because it appears she knows nothing of her party colleagues relationship with her party member Mr Sweeney. With open war fare breaking out within the DUP over this issue and some Councillors rejecting their own ministers statements it is now time for answers as opposed to spin and bluster. We have all seen only too well how such matters can affect public confidence as has happened in the Republic of Ireland and it is now necessary for Ministers Foster, Dodds and Paisley to answer some fundamental questions.

DETI ran an International competition to appoint the architects to build the Causeway visitor centre. The public have already outlayed a significant seven figure sum. How does the minister propose the private developer gives the people of Northern Ireland their investment back or is it simply going to be written off? Mr Sweeney himself must be completely disgusted at how his good name has been dragged through the gutter at a time when we are all trying to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and help build up our private sector. Let me make it clear I believe that him lobbying his local elected representative is perfectly acceptable.

What is unacceptable is that a representative he has had many dealings with indicated that he hardly knows his own party colleague that he has done business with. Mr Sweeney must be seething.

This project it has to stay in public ownership. As part of the new Northern Ireland the UUP started in 1998 we have seen our tourist figures continue to grow at record levels. This growth has already benefited and will continue to benefit private sector business in all parts of our province but I do think that selling of the profits of our Jewel in the Crown - the Giants Causeway - is short sighted and simply not in the public interest.

This leads me on to my final point and it is crucial. The DUP had told us all that no longer could ministers act on their own and that all such matters would have to secure a vote in the Assembly. All of the stakeholders including DUP Councillors in the area, the National Trust and Moyle District Council say one thing, two DUP ministers say another, the property developer is an acquaintance of another DUP minister and this is all supposed to be a system with a lot more checks and balances than its predecessor!! No wonder so many constituents simply vote with their feet and stay at home on election days.

I call on the Executive to convene urgently to restore some public confidence to this process.”

Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has said his party’s perference for the development of the much-needed Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre is that the project should remain in public ownership.

The proposed centre will be constructed within Dr Coulter’s North Antrim constituency, but the recent media debates about the emergence of a private developer as the favourite to construct the centre had raised issues of transparency and accountability in the minds of the general public.

“Given that the Giant’s Causeway is deemed as being suitable as a UNESCO world heritage site, my preference, along with that of the Ulster Unionist Party, is for the development of the planned visitors’ centre to be in public ownership.

“In terms of accountability regarding decisions as to future development at what is regarded as the Eighth Wonder of the World, it is vitally important that all such decisions appear to have complete integrity in the minds of the electorate.

“If our Northern Ireland public, and the electorate in particular, are to have full confidence in the legislative Assembly, then they must view all decisions as being above board.

“And if our public are asking questions, then the Assembly has a moral imperative to ensure those questions are answered with integrity.

“Our electorate and wider public must have that 100 per cent assurance there is complete transparency and accountability in Stormont Executive decisions,” said Assemblyman Dr Coulter.

Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has written to the Environment Minister, Arlene Foster and the Tourism Minister, Nigel Dodds, under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, requesting information surrounding their recent announcements on the future of the Giant’s Causeway Visitors Centre.

Mr Nicholson has specifically requested that the Department of the Environment provide him with all documentation surrounding the Minster’s decision to be “of a mind to approve” Seaport Investment’s planning proposal for a visitor’s centre at the Giant’s Causeway, including the Planning Service’s advice to the Minister on Seaport Investment’s proposal and copies of any correspondence the two Ministers may have had on the issue.

In a statement Mr Nicholson said,

“No matter, where I go through Europe and the rest of the world people always talk about the Giants Causeway and how lucky Northern Ireland is to have such a unique and wonderful site. Without question, it is the jewel in Northern Ireland’s tourism crown. A word class tourist attraction requires a world – class visitor’s centre.

“However, such a visitor’s centre should be in public hands for the common good of all in our community. I have very serious concerns about the road the Minister is going down.

“I have requested information from both DOE and DETI, which I feel, given the circumstances and the public interest in the issue, is absolutely essential to obtain, both for transparency and accountability in Government and for gaining a clearer understanding of why both Ministers have arrived at the decisions they have.”

Portrush UUP representative Norman Hillis says Environment Minister Arlene Foster should step back from the brink after indicating that she is minded to grant planning permission for the construction of a new Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre by a private developer.

The vice chairman of the Causeway Coast and Glens Ltd believes the Minister should now listen to what respected groups such as the National Trust and the public are saying over the issue.

Mr. Hillis said: “I believe that the best step the Minister can take is a step back from the brink and take cognisance of what reaction there has been to her announcement.

“There has been a public outcry on this issue because people are concerned about the Minister’s sudden u-turn on the issue.

“The fact that after having the full support of the National Trust and other interested parties for the publicly run option and organised a worldwide competition for a design, the Minister has indicated her intention to revert to a private option, has set alarm bells ringing.

“The issue does need to be resolved quickly but not by disregarding the concerns of the people who have been looking after a world famous attraction for decades.”

UUP Deputy-Leader Danny Kennedy said that the events of recent days regarding the Causeway Coast Visitors centre had the potential to tarnish the integrity and probity of the Assembly Executive.

Mr Kennedy pointed to the fact a constituency MLA, who also serves as a Junior Minister, has confirmed having clear links to the private developer but has omitted to register the fact that he sits on one of the developer’s companies management board in either a remunerated or unremunerated capacity. The Deputy Leader also said MLAs needed a full, open and public account of how the Ministers responsible reached their decision as these unanswered questions were creating a whiff of sleaze in the fledgling government.

In a statement Mr Kennedy said,

“There are currently so many unanswered questions surrounding the decision to steer the Causeway site away from public bodies to a private developer with clear links to the DUP.

The DUP MLA for North Antrim defended in the Assembly debate the move made by his Ministerial colleagues. It transpires from newspaper reports that the member sits on the management board of one Mr Sweeney’s companies. This position is not registered in the Assembly Members interests which are available to the public on the Assembly website.

The advice on the code of conduct governing Members’ interests states: “members are required to list…any unremunerated interest which might reasonably be thought by others to influence their actions as Assembly Members.”

There are questions that need to be answered by the member concerned as to whether his comments on the Causeway site constitute a conflict of interest.

In addition the DUP Ministers involved have a duty to clear up this debacle by publicly reporting to the Assembly how they reached this decision and what representations were made to them by or on behalf of Mr Sweeney’s development company or associated companies. The longer this whiff of sleaze is allowed to hang in the air, the more the integrity and probity of this fledgling government is being tarnished.”