‘The great garden grab for bus plan has begun’
THE National Transport Authority will begin a consultation process today with homeowners in Dublin who are set to lose gardens and parking spaces under the BusConnects plan.
However, before this crucial phase even began, a senior member of Fine Gael hit out yesterday at the Government-endorsed plan to improve transport in the capital.
Describing it as ‘the great garden grab’, north Dublin TD Noel Rock condemned the lack of transparency around the process and warned that ‘citizens will feel duped’.
Mr Rock told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘The great garden grab has commenced. Just last month the NTA told us they couldn’t announce the results of the public consultation in October as promised, and said it had slipped to next year.
‘Now we see clearly their mind is made up – if they are writing to people to offer to buy their gardens, they’ve clearly made decisions on route revisions.
‘Citizens will feel duped, and rightly so: it’s quite clear little regard has been paid to any public consultation and the NTA intend to plough on regardless of the wishes of the citizens of Dublin.’
Hundreds of residents in north Dublin have been written to over the last two days and offered one-on-one meetings with compulsory purchase order (CPO) experts over the plans by Dublin Bus to expand its service.
Some households are set to lose between one and two metres off the land outside their homes during the Core Bus Corridor Project, part of the BusConnects plan announced in June.
The consultation process will focus on so-called ‘pinch points’ – areas that will require land acquisition because there isn’t enough space to implement the infrastructure as planned.
While residents will lose gardens and parking spaces, the move will facilitate improved cycle and bus lanes, as well more frequent and faster bus journeys.
Ministers have been briefed on the plan and the Government believes there is a ‘greater good’ for the communities involved, which it hopes will allow them to avoid a major public backlash. It also hopes the offer of compensation will ease many residents’ concerns.
A Government source said: ‘Ultimately this is for the greater good. They will be paid money and it will improve their community, so they might be okay about it. I’m sure there will be an initial shock. But, politically, I wouldn’t imagine there will be anyone putting up signs.’
It is expected the initial roll-out of the consultation process will focus on four ‘core’ routes – Swords Road, Malahide Road, the Clongriffin to Fairview Road, and the old Swords Road between Santry and Dublin Airport.
The consultation process is set to be announced by the NTA at a press conference this afternoon.
‘Several hundred letters, probably 400 plus, have been sent out, mostly today and yesterday, advising residents of a new consultation period on CPOs,’ a Cabinet source told the Mail yesterday.
‘This is part of the first phase of the roll-out of the BusConnects plan.
‘It will run until the end of February and construction on the project is then expected to begin in 2021.’
In the letters, the NTA offers those likely to be affected one-on-one consultation – but stresses that no final decisions have been made on the routes.
Consultation process to look at ‘pinch points’