Owners want compo for land devalued by designation

LANDOWNERS across the West of Ireland, whose properties have been massively devalued due to environmental designation, are to take a number of legal test cases over the coming months in an effort secure compensation for the ‘financial hit’ they have taken.

Almost all of Connemara, as well as large tracts of land fringing the Corrib and river systems across Galway, have had lands designated as special areas of conversation (SACs), National Heritage Areas (NHAs) or Special Protection Areas (SPAs).

Now land owners across the country have come together to form the SAC Compensation Alliance (SCA) with the aim of challenging the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) over the fact that their lands have been seriously devalued without a cent in compensation.

The SCA are holding a rally in the Clayton Hotel in Galway city next Wednesday night, June 5, at 8pm, to which all landowners affected by designation have been invited to attend.

Alan Maloney, Secretary of the SCA, told the Connacht Tribune that a serious injustice was being perpetrated on landowners who ‘at the stroke of a pen’ had their properties rendered virtually valueless because of the designation.

“At a small scale, affected landowners are severely restricted in what they can do in terms of removing any walls or fences or in the reclamation of their lands.

“On a wider level, landowners under designation are finding it almost impossible to get planning permission for the building of a house, even for a family member, on their lands.

“The issues of a proper appeals process and a compensation package have now been completely ignored by the politicians,” said Alan Maloney, from Menlo, close to Galway city.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.