Catch that Bus – BusConnects Dublin Project Advances
An Bord Pleanála has recently granted approval for two BusConnects Core Bus Corridor Schemes from Liffey Valley to City Centre, and from Bellfield/Blackrock to the City Centre. These approvals mark significant milestones as the first of twelve proposed routes under the National Transport Authority’s BusConnects Dublin project to secure planning consent.
Further Bus Corridor improvements schemes are also planned for Cork (eleven routes) with preliminary route studies also underway for Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
It is expected that all twelve Dublin corridors will be completed by 2030, with the first construction contracts to be awarded at the end of 2024 and on-site construction commencing in early 2025.
Following An Bord Pleanála’s approval of the schemes the National Transport Authority (NTA) is likely to commence the formal compulsory acquisition process of the land required to facilitate the scheme works from individual landowners.
The next stages in the CPO process are likely to be as follows:
- Service of a Notice to Treat by the Acquiring Authority;
- A Notice of Entry which grants the Acquiring Authority
possession of the land; - Submission of a Statement of Claim for Compensation by the
Landowner; - Negotiations between the respective sides Valuers.
Under current legislation, an acquiring authority has a period of up to 18 months in which to serve a Notice to Treat in respect of the lands
which they intend to compulsorily acquire. However, in this instance it is likely that the NTA will instigate the Notice to Treat in the short term given that construction is scheduled to commence next year.
The Notice to Treat is a very important document insofar as it establishes the acquiring authority’s right to acquire the land and it copper-fastens the landowners’ entitlement to compensation. It also has the following effects:
- The date of Notice to Treat becomes the Valuation Date for the
purposes of assessing compensation. - It fixes the legal interest in land to those pertaining as of the
date of the Notice to Treat. - A Claim for Compensation is usually sought from the Claimant
within two months of the Notice to Treat date.
Following service of the Notice to Treat, the acquiring authority can subsequently serve a notice of entry and become the de-facto occupier of the land and allow construction works to commence notwithstanding that a sum of compensation may not yet have been agreed let alone paid to the claimant.
Importantly, impacted landowners should note that the NTA is obliged to pay the reasonably incurred professional fees of the landowner in dealing with the CPO process. Professional advice may be sought from multiple disciplines such as Town Planning Consultant, Consulting Engineer, Solicitor and Chartered Valuation Surveyor, depending on the nature and quantum of the land acquisition.
Given the scale of the BusConnects project across Ireland’s main cities, property professionals can expect a surge of enquiries from affected property owners over the coming months.
Niall Brereton is a Director of Professional Services in Bannon Chartered Valuation Surveyors & Property Consultants
