The Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and Limerick County Council’s recent announcement regarding of the Cork-Limerick motorway has elicited a response from Irish Farmers’ Association environment chair Paul O’ Brien.
The planned motorway will take highly productive agricultural area, and the development will obviously seriously impact farmers. “Farmers and landowners in the area are operating under an unacceptable cloud of uncertainty since the road development was first mooted in the late 1990s – almost 25 years ago,” O’ Brien comments.
The Cork-Limerick motorway project has been turned on and off by politicians and developers many times, says the IFA environment chair. “Farmers were left living under a sterilised planning freeze where they were prevented from undertaking developments on their farms. This is a major restriction to impose for a long period of time in a very productive and progressive farming area.”
O’ Brien called on County Councils in Cork and Limerick to immediately advance planning permissions for farmers who are not on the preferred Cork-Limerick route – as delays in farmyard and enterprise development have had a costly impact on some farmers in the area.
He reiterated that early and intensive consultation with all landowners impacted by the preferred route is essential, he said, as well as a full and fair compensation for all affected farmers and landowners.
The IFA plans to engage with project developers to ensure that farmers and landowners are treated equitably and fairly and fully compensated for all losses.