Farmers drive up cost of road land to £600m |
The IFA last night valued the extra deal at £200m which brings the cost of buying the land for the motorways from £400m to £600m. |
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Irish Independent Thursday November 29th 2001 MORE than 8,000 farmers and landowners holding out against the compulsory purchase of their land for the stalled national roads plan have been offered an extra £200m compensation. The deal includes "hello" money of £4,000 an acre, worth an estimated £80m, on top of improved compensation for lost land. The IFA last night valued the extra deal at £200m which brings the cost of buying the land for the motorways from £400m to £600m. The IFA has said 25,000 acres may be involved so with 8,000 farmers handing over an average of just over three acres of land each, they would get £75,000 on average, or £24,000 an acre. This is an increase of £8,000 an acre on the previous offer. The National Roads Authority had previously calculated total compensation for land acquisition would be £400m over the 2000-2006 lifetime of the plan. Farmers are to get the open market value of their land rather than the average per acre price based on the value of the entire farm. Last night, Labour predicted that if accepted by farmers it would open the door for other landowners affected by compulsory purchase for public projects to look for higher payments. The deal only applies to the new roads being built under the National Development Plan. And farmers who have already negotiated deals will not benefit from it as the new offer is not retrospective. The deal, agreed between Environment Minister Noel Dempsey and IFA leader Tom Parlon, will now be put to the farmers for their approval. On top of the improved price, there will also be compensation for severance and injury to the remaining property including damage to the viability of the farm business. Where farm buildings are lost these will be covered by replacement cost of new buildings. The offer, if accepted, clears the way for resumption of the roads plan which has been stalled for almost a year. The minister indicated yesterday that the £80m premium would add about 2pc to the cost of the overall roads programme. Payment must be made within 30 days of agreement and the deal stipulates that authorities must respond to claims within two months and will face penalty interest of 10.74pc if they do not meet payment on time. As part of the deal local authorities and the NRA will have responsibility for fencing on all new roads. Each farmer will be individually assessed. Work on the planned 900km network has already been delayed by up to 12 months in some cases. The NRA while welcoming the move warned there was still a backlog of projects to be cleared. The plan, involving a nationwide network of motorways and dual-carriageways is now unlikely to meet its 2006 target with some 30 major projects affected. The minister yesterday expressed confidence that the proposed agreement would be approved by the farmers and the NRA. IFA president Tom Parlon said he was confident the fundamental changes would ensure that the national roads programme could be implemented efficiently. Labour's environment spokesperson Eamon Gilmore said he questioned an £80m package at a time when it was difficult to build hospitals and replace substandard schools. Copyright © Irish Independent 2001 |