Compulsory Purchase Orders will form part of the land acquisition strategy to further develop Greenway routes in Mayo, wherever landowners may not be agreeable to granting access - according to Paul Hyland, Senior Executive of Mayo County Council National Roads Office.
Addressing members of the Westport-Belmullet Municipal District at their meeting in Belmullet Civic Offices this week, where he was asked to provide an update on Greenway projects in the county, Hyland stated that in a newly evolving role that commenced in September 2021, Mayo County Council National Roads office is now being funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII ) to upgrade a number of regional road projects and also regional Greenways.
He explained: "The handover transition period is expected to take 18 months, and relates to two current Greenway projects - the Ballina-Castlebar-Westport Interurban Greenway, and the Great Western Greenway through Newport town north to south, which we are now responsible for. There was a grant of of €250,000 for the first one, which is a 55km long project, €17,220 of which is spent; for project two, €100,000 has been allocated - for this, the Great Western Greenway element in Newport town needs to be developed. We have spent none of this grant yet. There is public consultation to May 11; then route options and public consultation and feedback, and we hope to have the preferred route by end of year.
"From there we then move on to the statutory Part 8 planning or whatever is necessary and will also have to rely on the Compulsory Purchase Order process to acquire the land from various landowners potentially affected by a new greenway - which is a new departure for Mayo County Council when it comes to the Greenway process. If landowners are amenable to their lands being accessed, there is a fallback for them in place.
"It is process-led, quite slow and laborious, this is how we work under TII. So on the Westport Ballina Greenway, we could be looking at 3-4 years before you have a route on the ground under construction."
He added that in order to meet its increased workload, the council is looking at resourcing the office, 'maybe with three more engineers by the end of year, since the Greenways were added' and noted that 'whatever grant is available we draw down on a monthly basis, TII have a suite of deliverables on each - also standards and departures, and all of this can be audited at any time by TII'.
Cllr Peter Flynn said he had mixed emotions 'when you hear TII is now involved in the whole Greenway side of things'. On the positive side, such a development promised a level of professionalism with good, clear timelines, milestones and target dates in place, but, in his view, it would have been better to train up people in the office on project management.
He continued: "Regarding CPOs - that will raise feathers in certain areas but ultimately, we have to get these Greenways in place; in the past, with some landowners, the CPO process was used as a sledge to crack a nut but also ensures landowners get fair compensation."
Cllr Gerry Coyle said: "We need to be very careful when we talk about CPOs. Greenways must always be made in agreement with the people, it must be consultation not confrontation. I hate the very words - compulsory purchase order. However, you must talk to people on the ground first before you plan anything. The Corrib Oil project is a prime example of how a project should not be done and I hope there is a thesis done on it as such in Trinity College."
Cllr Johnny O'Malley said that entering into CPO agreements with landowners was sure to create a problem with previous landowners who allowed free access in the past but who may now also seek compensation from the council.
Cllr Paul McNamara said a total of 557 shareholders on Achill island will have to be spoken to and "I don’t want any talk on CPOs." He said there was no doubt the Greenway project has been a great success and is 'a terrific infrastructure to have in a place like Achill'. However, he stressed that maintenance of greenway routes in general is now an issue and that there should be persons to walk and police it.
In response to multiple queries and concerns raised by members on CPOs, Paul Hyland pointed out that the TII 'is a funding body' and reiterated that the CPO process will form part of the route construction process and 'will be used to acquire land where necessary'. In regard to the maintenance of greenways, he said there was no current structure in place but that 'TII will come up with a strategy as to how to maintain them in future'.
