The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) have outlined concern around the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to acquire lands for Greenways, that in time could be used for other purposes.
Speaking on this, national vice-president John Joe Fitzgerald warned that “by allowing TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) to use CPOs for non-critical infrastructure projects, we are effectively opening the door for a much wider application and this is something that should concern every farmer and landowner.”
By allowing CPOs for Greenway projects, we are, Fitzgerald continued “facilitating their use, for what some would argue is a public good.” However, defining a public good is, he added, “open to interpretation.”
There is the INHFA representative explained “a real possibility that, by allowing the miss-use of a CPO we could for example see the State use this option to buy land to extend our national parks, or in nitrate vulnerable zones the purchase of land as a buffer zone in river basins or as some County Councillors have already called for the use of CPOs to acquire derelict sites and maybe their use in helping to solve the housing shortages.”
Beyond the miss-use of the CPO option the INHFA vice-president once again challenged the expansionist plans around Greenways and called for a needs analysis assessment stating that “we don’t have the population or tourism base to justify this ongoing expansion and at a time when we are seeing budget cuts that will impact farmers amongst others, the money earmarked for Greenways is a luxury that we can’t afford.”
In concluding Fitzgerald stressed the need to have the CPO option removed from the Code of Best Practice for Greenways stating how “this option has been abused and used as a threat in forcing farmers and landowners to accept a massive imposition around their way of life, their privacy and potentially their safety.”