Landowners along Galway Outer Bypass route in limbo as CPOs fall

Galway County Council have informed land owners along the route that while compulsory purchase orders have been lapsed, they cannot dispose of their property.

It means that property owners along the proposed route of the bypass will not receive any money for their lands but are also prevented from doing anything with their property in the event of it proceeding in the future.

There are almost a dozen houses affected along the route and all of these owners were expecting to be relocated. Now they have been told that this will not happen but yet they are not allowed sell their dwellings.

It is a ‘limbo-land’ situation for the owners of the land along the route of the route of the Galway City Outer Bypass as they has been informed that compulsory purchase orders on their properties have now lapsed.

Deputy Noel Grealish said that the land owners affected were hit with a double blow in that they would not be paid for the lands which were compulsory purchased and were now told that they could not do anything with these properties.

“It is disgraceful that people cannot sell lands or houses along this route now that they have been told that there will be no bypass built around the city," Deputy Grealish added.

The project – estimated to cost in the region of €300 million – suffered a serious setback last year when the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, ruled that the eastern segment of the project would have an adverse environmental impact on the site.

Over four years previously, An Bord Pleanála, had turned down an application for the western part of the project on environmental grounds mentioning the effect it would have on bog cotton flora.

Now Galway County Council have written to the individual property owners along the route informing them that as a consequence of this ruling, the compulsory purchase orders will now lapse.

But yet they will not be allowed to dispense with any property that had been the subject of a compulsory purchase order – it means that any lands or houses affected by the route will have no value.

Deputy Grealish said that while the outer bypass for the city was knocked, it should not have a lingering effect for the land owners who were the subject of compulsory purchase orders.

“There is no way that people’s lands and houses should be tied up in this manner. They are effectively frozen from doing anything with the property that they own without getting any compensation for this," Deputy Grealish added