Fears of late Ross move on Greenways

THE IFA are on ‘red alert’ that outgoing Transport Minister, Shane Ross, may try in ‘one last dying kick’ to push through a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) regime for the Greenways project.

Minister Ross – who lost his Dáil seat in the February General Election – has been asked by the IFA to ‘shelve’ any further discussions on Greenways until the current COVID-19 pandemic has passed and/or until a new Minister and Government is in place.

The Draft Code of Best Practice and Guide Process for the National Greenways Project still contains a clause that ‘the available legal mechanisms’ for the purchase of land ‘may need to be considered’.

In a submission to the National IFA Environmental Committee, Galway IFA has reiterated their ‘vehement opposition’ to the imposition of the CPO process in developing Greenways.

They also point out that Greenways must remain a ‘non-critical infrastructural development’ while the selection of a Greenway route must prioritise the preference of the largest number of landowners.

The IFA also want all Greenways to take a route adjacent to field boundaries unless otherwise agreed with the landowner while high-quality screening should be ‘an unquestionable option’ for any landowner or adjacent landowner – erected at no cost to the landowners.

Galway IFA Chairperson, Anne Mitchell, said that there was a real concern among farmers that the Transport Minister was trying to ‘push through’ the Greenways project with CPOs.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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