The threat of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) must be removed as a means of acquiring land for non-essential infrastructure projects such as greenways, according to the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association’s (ICSA’s) rural development chairman, Seamus Sherlock.
Sherlock was speaking following the disclosure by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport that the public consultation on greenways undertaken earlier this year does not apply to the “contentious” Athlone to Galway section or the Kerry and Connemara greenways. This has left many farmers angered, according to the ICSA.
Commenting on the issue, Sherlock said: “We all support the formation of greenways and advancing rural Ireland through tourism – but these projects must be delivered with farmer consultation and goodwill.
“Landowners along the proposed route thought their concerns were being listened to at long last with the consultation process, but now we’re told that the consultation only applies to the greenways of the far distant future.
Unfortunately, this means the threat of CPOs looms large once again.
“The ICSA is very much in favour of new infrastructure – be they roads or greenways – but not at any cost. We will stand firmly with our members who believe that they have been bullied by the threat of CPOs,” Sherlock said.
“We call for the immediate withdrawal of these threats so we can all sit down around the table and work out the best routes going forward,” the chairman said.
Earlier this year – while speaking on national radio – Sherlock described the use of CPOs to reclaim farm land for tourism greenways as a “provocative threat to farmers”.
In an interview on RTE Radio 1’s ‘Morning Ireland’ programme, he explained that farmers are in favour of improving tourism opportunities. But he insisted that alternative routes needed to be considered.
In some instances, many farmers are particularly aggrieved because their farms are being cut right down the middle, Sherlock added.