This article is from page 8 of the 2006-05-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
SEVENTY-FIVE individuals who own land along the Crusheen-Gort bypass have lodged objections against the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the the €187 million road.
As a result, An Bord Pleanála is now to hold an oral hearing into the contentious scheme in the next number of months.
The board has also confirmed that submissions have been made on the environmental impact of the scheme by An Taisce, the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board (SRFB), the Department of the Environment, the Gort Regional Alliance for Community and Environment (GRACE) and environmental consultant, Peter Sweetman.
A spokesman for An Taisce yesterday described the scheme, “as one of the most complex road-schemes ever to be proposed because of the environmental impacts it will have on the limestone area where you have variable watertables and a number of turloughs”.
Galway County Council, the lead agency for the bypass, is intending to compulsorily purchase almost 500 acres contained in 103 farms.
The scheme – which involves the construction of 22 km of new dual carriageway – will also involve the severance of 845 acres of farmland along the route. The farmers concerned are set for a bonanza. As a result of the CPO of 500 acres of land for the Ennis scheme, €22 million was paid to 67 landowners.
“It is typical to have this number of objections at this stage and I would be very surprised if there were a large number when the oral hearing takes place,” infrastructural services manager with the IFA, Tomas Ryan told The Clare People .
“The objections are practical objections to get negotiations going. A lot of the objections will be resolved through negotiation. Our hope is that active negotiations will resolve as many objections as possible.”
The construction of the scheme is expected to commence towards the end of next year and will involve the bypassing of Crusheen and Gort.
According to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) published, the construction will lead to a reduction in road injuries on the N18 where, between 1989 and 2002, ten people died as a result of traffic accidents with 126 personal injuries recorded.
The EIS states that 14,000 vehicles a day currently use the road between Crusheen and Gort and the route, “fails to cope with the demand of motorists and residents frequently experiencing delays during periods of peak movement”.