Following a judgement in the High Court on Monday to overturn a decision by the Department for Infrastructure to proceed with building a new A5 road, land vested as part of the project will be returned to farmers.Answering an urgent question in Stormont on Tuesday, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins confirmed that all orders relating to the road project will be quashed as a result of the ruling.
Following a judgement in the High Court on Monday to overturn a decision by the Department for Infrastructure to proceed with building a new A5 road, land vested as part of the project will be returned to farmers.
Answering an urgent question in Stormont on Tuesday, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins confirmed that all orders relating to the road project will be quashed as a result of the ruling.
“Officials will write to all the landowners in the coming days, setting out how the Department plans to manage the process of returning the vested lands,” she said.
The minister was pushed by a number of MLAs on whether affected farmers will be compensated for lost income. That potentially includes lost direct payments in 2025, given the final date for applications is now past (9 June). However, she remained non-committal. “That process will follow,” she said.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union has also called for land to be returned to farmers in its original state and for farmers to be fairly compensated for the disruption to their businesses.
In total, over 3,000 acres of land was vested from over 300 landowners.
Repealed
The latest A5 judgement related to whether building the road was in line with targets set out in the NI Climate Change Act 2022. The decision of the court has also raised concerns about future road projects in NI.
The chair of the Stormont Infrastructure committee, DUP MLA Deborah Erskine has called for the Act to be repealed.
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