Surveyors' Conference: A more effective process of compulsorily acquiring land is required as Ireland becomes more urbanised and the need for infrastructure intensifies, according to chartered surveyor Tom Dunne of the School of Real Estate and Construction Economics, Dublin Institute of Technology.
Speaking at Annual Conference of Chartered Surveyors in the Radisson SAS hotel in Stillorgan, Dublin, on Friday, he said Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) are "at the sharp end of the conflict between private rights and the common good" and there is "a pressing need" for reform of legislation in this area.
"What is needed is a standardised regime which is clear, as simple, certain and speedy as possible, and which is written in plain English."
Dunne says the complexity of the CPO process makes it unnecessarily vulnerable to judicial review and believes the compensation levels should be reviewed. Regarding agricultural land, he said there is a clear association between land values and payments to farmers for agricultural support. "These, without doubt, artificially raise the value of land."
He suggests a special loss payment to be made across the board, with the exception of development land, "as development value can only be acquired by selling land for development and that could only be done if the property was vacated." He also criticised the planning system as "flawed" because it induces local authorities to transfer the right to connect to services and infrastructure at cost, and the right to develop is given for free. This approach, he contends, does not recognise "the economic value of infrastructural assets" which are owned by local authorities and says the amount charged for development contributions "does not reflect their economic value". If more realistic development charges were implemented "the value of the land required for infrastructure would be reduced to agricultural levels, thereby cutting the cost of providing much needed infrastructure".
In his opening address at the conference on "Delivering Infrastructure", Joe Bannon, President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors and managing partner of Harrington Bannon, welcomed the new National Infrastructure Body, announced by the Taoiseach, provided its decisions are final and that it does indeed streamline the procedure for major projects.
"It is vital that this new board does indeed fast track planning and puts a stop to severe delays on major State and private infrastructure projects. When projects are approved, they must be built, not held up by vested or private interest groups and individuals." If this is not the case, there will be continued escalation in costs of infrastructure projects.
He said that budget over-runs are not necessarily the result of increased costs during the project, but because the original budget estimate was not accurately developed in the first place. There is evidence that overall tender prices dropped by as much as 4.9 per cent in last year "so suggestions that increasing construction costs have caused these cost over-runs do not stack up," he said
Brendan Barrett, managing director of Ascon/Rohcon Ltd, says that while much of the comment on the delays and cost overruns in delivering public infrastructure is "ill-informed and based on erroneous information, we should accept that there is genuine concern and it behoves all parties involved to review and improve delivery mechanisms."
He says a lack of communication between the authorities and the general public is an issue. He cites the example of original estimates for the Luas of around €250 million and says preliminary budget estimates that do not take into account the "unfinalised scope" of the work should not be published.
Jim Power, non-executive director of Friends First Ireland, believes that Ireland will benefit from international recovery but said the issue of competitiveness has to be addressed. In the medium term, the Irish economy should be able to deliver annual average GDP growth of around 4 per cent. Ireland's economic potential, however, is under threat as a result of the infrastructure deficit. "Government should bear in mind that many decisions on future investment are made when US multinational executives are stopped in unacceptable traffic congestion on the way to Dublin Airport."
He urged that value for money assessment in an environment of scarcer fiscal resources is essential. "This has not happened in an adequate manner and massive resources have been whittled away in the form of inflation. The Luas project is a waste of taxpayers money and will not solve Dublin's traffic chaos. A concentration on QBCs, would be a much cheaper, much more effective remedy."
To get infrastructure built faster and cheaper, the issues of planning, consultation periods and land acquisition must be addressed, said Minister for Transport Seamus Brennan. "I am drafting legislation that will have as its clear objective significant reductions in time frame for planning and consultation."
