Concerns over Oylegate to Rosslare Harbour road
MEMBERS SEEK ASSURANCES ON WHEN ROUTE WILL BE DECIDED UPON
THE frustrations of elected representatives echoed around County Hall last week as members had their say on the Oylegate to Rosslare Harbour motorway following a presentation from those behind the project.
The words ‘Groundhog Day’ were thrown around with abandon as some of the longer serving members recalled the progress on this project made in year’s gone by, when a route had been roughly identified, however, it came a cropper as the required funding didn’t materialise.
Sean Dobbs and Joe Shinkwin of TII and Mott McDonald outlined that, previously, a constraints study had been carried out back in 2009 to develop potential route corridors. In 2011, a preferred route was selected. However, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since and now Wexford County Council are almost starting afresh. The identified route from 2011 is now one of eight being considered and members of the public are being asked to have their say by viewing the options on the project website (oilgate2rosslareharbour.ie).
While the importance of the road in providing connectivity to Rosslare Europort and quicker travel times from the capital was clear, quite a few were sceptical if it would ever come to fruition given the post-Covid financial crisis the country is now facing.
‘This is almost 21 years going on,’ said the incoming county council chairman Ger Carthy. ‘We need to know if this is going ahead and we need a date for when the route will be chosen today.’
Cllr Lisa McDonald raised some major concerns held by people who are living within the identified routes, who now face an uncertain future.
‘In 2004, we had a similar presentation,’ she said. ‘A preferred route was picked and there was a number of houses in this preferred corridor. Those houses have essentially been sterilised since then. The owners can’t sell them.’
Mr Dobbs noted that leaflets were to land at 7,000 households that could ‘possibly’ be affected by the new road last week.
‘These 7,000 households are now entering a period of major uncertainty,’ Cllr McDonald said. ‘If another route is picked, that’s another set of houses sterilised and can’t be sold. We all have questions relating to Green Party policies in this new government and what approach will be taken to the road network, but if they opt against constructing these motorways, then these people are locked in for years unable to sell their homes and get on with their lives.’
‘I had one man who lived in the last preferred corridor for the road in Drinagh,’ Cllr McDonald said. ‘He couldn’t take a great job he had been offered in Dublin simply because he couldn’t sell his house. People need certainty on this. Will it be built?’
Cllr Carthy shared a similar story of a man who owns ‘substantial land’ in one of the identified routes and was refused planning permission to develop his property as a result. Cllr George Lawlor shared Cllr McDonald’s concerns that with a Green Minister for Transport, the project may not actually proceed.
Hoping to offer some clarity and under pressure from Cllrs McDonald and Carthy, Mr Dobbs said he hoped the preferred 300 metre corridor could be identified by January of next year. From this point, he said they would engage with affected landowners and undertake an environmental impact assessment and look at design between 2021 and 2022. He hoped to apply for planning for the new road by 2023 and in the very best case scenario, construction could commence as early as 2026.
Speaking as an auctioneer, Cllr John Fleming said that homes and land in the route corridors were left in limbo.
‘I would say that the market in that area is now completely frozen,’ he said. ‘People are in limbo. I think the process is far too slow and we need to think of the people affected here. Delays cause major upset for people and they certainly don’t help the market.’
Cllr Davy Hynes noted that the south east had been left without representation at the cabinet table in the newly formed government and said that the members were ‘p**sing against the wind’ unless they could get some form of commitment from the government that the road will go ahead. Similarly, Jim Codd said he believed the project would move quicker if it were closer to Dublin and said that leaving people in ‘no man’s land’ was ‘unacceptable’.
Cllr Jim Moore said it was ‘Groundhog Day’ as he recalled members being dragged all over the county back in 2009 to look at potential routes. He stressed the importance of listening to local communities and their concerns in relation to the project.
While he understood the frustrations of the councillors, Director of Services for Roads Eamonn Hore said that they were doing what had to be done in relation to the project and stated: ‘If we don’t start here now, we’ll be back here again having the same discussion in ten years time.’
Chief Executive of Wexford County Council Tom Enright echoed this saying: ‘I understand the concerns. It’s a little bit of a step back before we move forward. I’m keen to get this back on the fast track to getting delivered. We’re already seeing the benefits of the New Ross and Gorey bypasses and Rosslare Europort is finally starting to see some activity. We need to get through this process as quickly as possible and deliver.’
SINN FÉIN councillor Tom Forde once again raised the urgent need for one and two bed housing to be provided by Wexford County Council as the members took their seats for their June meeting.
As published in last week’s edition of this paper, Cllr Forde raised the case of a man who has been on the housing list for a total of 16 years with no realistic prospect of being given a one-bed unit. He raised his frustration that while 75% of people were awaiting one- or two-bed houses, this didn’t seem to be an area in which the council were focusing on in terms of building.
‘We know there’s an issue with one and two bed housing,’ Council Chief Executive Tom Enright responded. ‘For the most part the demand is among single men. We have one project around six months away and others in planning. We hope to be able to provide some more units of this type in town centres in particular.’
Cllr David Hynes added that while Covid-19 had overshadowed the housing crisis in recent times, it is very much still there. ‘If anything, it’s getting worse,’ he said. ‘On one and two beds in particular we have a long, long way to go.’