Council makes millionaires of farmers

PAYMENTS BY Galway County Council to farmers along the next phase of the Atlantic Corridor have created six new millionaires.

The payments by the local authority to six landowners are part of a €37.7 million windfall for farmers along the route of the Gort Crusheen bypass.

The payments for the compulsory acquisition of land are confirmed in Freedom of Information (FoI) documents released by the county council yesterday concerning the €207.5 million road scheme.

Work is expected to be completed on the 23km dual carriageway later this year. The route will bypass the south Galway town of Gort and the Clare village of Crusheen.

This follows the bypassing of Ennis and Newmarket-on-Fergus on the N18.

The figures from the county council show that €5.3 million was paid by the council to one landowner.

The landowner received more than three times the next highest amount of €1.7 million – another landowner received €1.4 million and two others received €1.1 million with one other receiving €1 million.

In total, the figures show that the council has paid out €37.7 million to landowners along the route of the road with 16 receiving between €500,000 and €1 million and an additional 27 receiving between €250,000 and €500,000.

As the lead agency in the project, the council has compulsorily acquired almost 500 acres of land contained in 103 farms along the 23km route, that involved the severance of 845 acres of farmland.

Work commenced on the project in 2008 and the FoI documents show that the contractor, Siac Wills was aiming to have the road completed more than one year ahead of schedule.

The documentation shows that the scheme contract is not due to be completed until August 10th, 2011.

The document reveals that surfacing on the route is 18 weeks behind the original programme.

It also states: “The projected completion date on the revised programme is given as April 2011, however, this includes an effective suspension of works over the winter period.” Senior engineer with Clare County Council, Tom Tiernan, told a recent meeting that the council has been told that the works could be completed this autumn.

The FoI documentation states that Siac Wills have been paid to April 30th last €70.8 million including VAT on the scheme.

The documentation also reveals that consultants working on the project have received €10 million to date, with Jacobs Ireland receiving €7.1 million, and Irish Archaeological Consultancy receiving €2.2 million.

The road scheme starts at the northern end of the Ennis bypass and extends to about 1km north of Gort, bypassing the villages of Crusheen and the town of Gort.