Council to meet with minister over stalled A5 plans

MEMBERS of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council are preparing to meet Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins in the coming weeks to discuss the latest developments on the future of the stalled £1.7 billion A5 dual carriageway project.

It is now several months since the High Court quashed approval for the long-awaited scheme, leaving communities across West Tyrone and beyond in uncertainty.

Since then, much of the focus has shifted to compensation and the concerns of landowners and farmers along the proposed route.

Ms Kimmins, in a letter to councillors, confirmed she would accept the council’s invitation to meet, either in Belfast or online later this autumn. She also confirmed that her Department had lodged an appeal against the court’s ruling.

Council chair Barry McElduff said the decision to halt the road had left people ‘stunned and saddened’, and that there was widespread ‘dismay and anger’ locally.

“We hope to meet with a cross-party delegation so that we can collectively consider how best to proceed to ensure this much-needed scheme is brought to fruition as soon as practicable,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Department for Infrastructure has provided landowners with new details on the appeal.

In a letter signed by Ryan Gough, Deputy Director of the A5 Western Transport Corridor, officials confirmed that the appeal could take between nine and 12 months, with a first hearing expected this autumn.

The Department indicated its preference not to reinstate previously vested land until the appeal outcome is known. Instead, it is proposing temporary Licence Agreements to allow land to remain as it is, with departmental access limited to maintenance and environmental surveys.

Mr Gough acknowledged that landowners were reluctant to make decisions until the Department clarified its position.

“A consistent theme has emerged that decisions on the various options cannot reasonably be taken until the Department has clarified its position regarding the next steps,” he said.

However, the approach has been heavily criticised by DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, chair of Stormont’s Infrastructure Committee. She described the situation as ‘shambolic’ and said landowners had once again been treated as ‘an afterthought’.

“The ultimate problem with the A5 scheme was, and remains, the climate change legislation championed by some parties in the Assembly,” she argued.

“In a process where landowners appear to have been bottom of the Department’s priorities, it is symptomatic of that treatment that they are left uncertain about what penalties they may face for simply trying to make their business work.”