80% of landowners sign up to controversial Lough Derg Pipe scheme
Nenagh Councillor says millions of Euro have already been ‘wasted’
80% OF FARMERS and landowners are so far in agreement with allowing the proposed Shannon Pipe to run through their land.
There are about 500 landowners who will be affected by the multi-billion-euro Pipe and a majority of them are in line for a financial windfall after signing agreements with Uisce Éireann. A majority of them have agreed to give the company access rights to their land and maintain the new underground pipeline.
128 of the 500 landowners live in Tipperary. Uisce Éireann says the 80% of the 500 have agreed to a “voluntary wayleave package.” Uisce Éireann says it has already made 153 compensation payments to the farmers and landowners who will be impacted by the pipeline between Parteen and the Eastern and Midlands Region.
The wayleave package was agreed last year with the IFA and ICMSA. Uisce Éireann is keeping deals struck with individual landowners confidential. On average each landownever will receive a payout of about €100,000.
Cllr Seamus Morris got the UE info. “€15.3 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on a project that has yet to receive planning permission.”
Cllr Morris said €167 million has already been spent on the pipe project to date, which he regards as “wasted” money. He believes the pipe is “very unlikely” to be approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála.
The Councillor passed on to the media correspondence which he had received from Uisce Éireann. In this correspondence, Uisce Éireann describes the Shannon Pipeline as being “a critical infrastructure project that will provide a resilient, safe, and secure water supply with capacity to address the water supply needs for up to 50% of the population. The delivery of the Water Supply Project is critical to the delivery of housing and growth for the state.”
Uisce Éireann lodged a Strategic Infrastructure Development planning application and Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) application to An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) last December. It said it was always intended to offer a wayleave package to landowners along the proposed pipeline route, and to acquire wayleaves on a voluntary basis, in advance of the possible granting of the planning permission and CPO. It’s expected that ACP will announce by March 2027 whether it is granting planning permission or not.
“A total of 153 consenting wayleaves have received payments to date,” Uisce Éireann told Cllr Morris. “We cannot share specific monetary details as these are commercially sensitive with active negotiations on the land and wayleaves elements for the project ongoing. All compensation payments are individually calculated and vary considerably by landowner. The content of the voluntary wayleave package was agreed with the farming organisations, was recommended by external experts and represents value for money for the taxpayer.
“The package is appropriate for a project of this scale and ensures landowners are adequately compensated, including initial payments to landowners along the pipeline route. Provisions are included within the package for payment to mitigate the impact of the construction and operational phases of the project.
“In addition, we have agreed a comprehensive Code of Practice, which both outlines the restrictions on the contractors’ working methods and gives commitments to return the land to its original condition following our works.”
The nine Councillors of Nenagh Municipal District, including Cllr Morris, are opposed to the Shannon Pipeline. With Lough Derg being a very important tourism attraction in their communities, they are concerned about the possible environmental impacts which piping water from Parteen Basin to the Dublin catchment area could have on Lough Derg. Cllr Morris last week told the media that the fact a fifth of the landowners along the Pipe’s route have not yet agreed to Uisce Éireann’s package could turn out to be a significant fact.
“The amount of landowners who have refused the voluntary wayleave has gone to 100 out of 500,” he remarked, “meaning 20% of landowners; and some of them are sitting in the most strategic land in terms of land for vital infrastructure (mostly in Tipperary).” He believes the project will not receive planning permission due to its environmental impact and absence of an abstraction licence. “So, to sum up: €167 million wasted on a project that is dead in the water,” he said. Meanwhile, on May 6 last the River Shannon Protection alliance made a presentation against the Pipe in the Dáil, calling it an “Ecocide project.”