A5 landowners given three options after project setback

LANDOWNERS along the route of the long-delayed A5 dual-carriageway have been presented with three options by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) following the latest legal blow to the £1.2 billion project.

Each of the landowners affected by the proposed Western Transport Corridor – which stretches from Newbuildings in Derry to Aughnacloy – has recently received a letter from the DfI, confirming that land previously vested for the road will now be returned and compensation will be paid. An estimated 86 residential properties and more than 200 farms lie along the proposed route.

In the letter, issued by the Deputy Director of the A5 project, landowners were informed that ownership of the vested land has reverted to them.

They are now being offered three options:

l Leave the land as is – with fences and boundaries remaining untouched until further decisions are made.

l Reinstate land and boundaries – with the department carrying out the work in agreement with the landowner.

l Payment in lieu – where landowners receive a payment instead of the department undertaking reinstatement work.

Preparatory work had already been carried out along much of the proposed route before the High Court quashed the latest approval earlier this year – a decision which overturned the orders signed off by former Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd.

That work is still visible along various sections adjacent to the existing A5.

In a meeting between DfI, Land and Property Services, and the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), concerns were raised about the uncertainty facing those affected.

UFU Deputy President William Irvine said the situation has left landowners frustrated.

He said, “The Ulster Farmers� Union alongside land agents, welcomed the opportunity to meet with the Department for Infrastructure and the Land and Property Services to discuss what happens next following the A5 High Court judgment.

“Our members urgently need responses so that we can all now move forward.”