[Article] Minister shifts his stance on capping of land costs

Victor

Note that lands in the vicinity of new Luas lines can be charged a surcharge to help fund the line.

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/1577956?view=Eircomnet

Minister shifts his stance on capping of land costs
From:ireland.com
Monday, 29th September, 2003

The Minister for State for Finance, Mr Tom Parlon, has said he accepts that in some cases, compensation for loss of land to road-building should be capped.

Commenting on a scenario where the land taken may "very obviously" increase the value of adjacent land in the possession of the same owner, Mr Parlon said he felt it "reasonable" that this be taken into account.

Mr Parlon said he believed the special deal he, as president of the Irish Farmers Association, had worked out with Government over compensation for lands lost to road building was working well.

However, he gave an example of where a proposed town by- pass created a new development area between the town and the by-pass, and the same landowner was "very obviously going to be enriched" from the rezoned land "then yes, it should be considered in the amount of compensation paid for the land taken".

This would appear to be a dilution of Mr Parlon's recently reported comments that landowners and developers should be allowed to "reap the benefits" if their lands were rezoned.

Last month he said: "I believe that rights cannot be withdrawn by a democratic whim of a particular government. I fear that this is the brick wall that the debate on private property in Ireland is careering towards."

Following Mr Parlon's comments, a spokesman said that comparing his comments last month and this month was "not comparing oranges with oranges", as one was related to development lands and the other was related to compensation for lands taken for road building.

Both issues are however being examined by the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, after the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, asked it to consider the wider issue of property rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

Earlier this year, Mr Ahern said he was willing to hold a referendum on property rights if this was needed to address the cost of development land.

Mr Parlon's latest comments also come in the wake of a joint call for Constitutional change from the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA).

Both bodies told the Oireachtas committee they felt the balance of rights between the individual's right to private property and the "common good" were skewed in favour of the individual. They also said massive increases in land prices had been experienced by both agencies as a result.

Mr Frank Allen of the RPA disclosed that a handful of landowners would share €100 million in land costs for the Luas Tallaght line. He also said that among these bodies were other State agencies who were holding out for the highest possible price, accompanied by advisers and valuers, all on a percentage of the final award.

The NRA has had a similar experience. In one case known to The Irish Times, one acre of land required for the South Eastern Motorway cost more than €2 million. While it initially expected to spend €500 million on land throughout the State, it now projects to have spent € 1 billion.

The NRA chief executive, Mr Michael Tobin, told the committee that some 30 years ago, the Kenny report had suggested how a balance of rights might be achieved. It said a price of current market value plus 25 per cent would compensate the landowner while giving most of the benefit to the community at large.