This article is from page 10 of the 2006-08-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
THE Irish Farmers Association (IFA) yesterday confirmed that there remained only 10 objections from farmers against the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the €204 million Gort-Crusheen by-pass.
75 objections were lodged against the CPO for the scheme, which will lessen drivetimes between Ennis and Galway and extend the Shannon Airport catchment.
Galway County Council is seeking to compulsorily acquire almost 500 acres of land contained in 103 farms along the 22km route. The scheme is to also involve the severance of 845 acres of farmland.
On the first day of the An Bord Pleanala oral hearing in Gort last Tuesday, 37 objections against the CPO for the €209 million by-pass were withdrawn.
At the hearing, board inspector Danny O’Connor raised questions over the impact the proposed new road could have on the reopening of the €74 million Ennis-Athenry line, which runs very close to the road for a stretch of four kilometres.
Mr O’Connor also asked whether the road would impact on any plans by Iarnrod Eireann to put in place a second track to run parallel to the existing track.
In response, John Haughey, on behalf of Iarnrod Eireann, said that the roadworks proposed would not impact on the ability of Iarnrod Eireann to reopen the line at the four-kilometre stretch, while any plans to lay down a second track would not be affected as it lay further away from the proposed road, in the land owned by Iarnrod Eireann.
In his evidence, Dr Brian Madden told the hearing that, as much of the road passes through a karst landscape, disruption of underground watercourses could impact negatively on habitats such as turloughs.
Dr Madden said that the route would pass within 300 metres and three kilometres of nine designated Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) or National Heritage Areas (NHAs).
He said, “None of the sites identified as of conservation value will suffer a major hydrological impact as a result of the construction of the proposed road. . . However, 15 of the 23 sites will possibly or likely suffer a significant impact on their hydrology.”
Some of the mitigation measures proposed to prevent disturbance to areas of ecological interest include the road corridor being kept to a minimum width that is feasible in such areas.
Dr Madden acknowledged that there will be significant impact on habitats due to the scheme.However, he said that none of the sites identified are of national importance.