The latest update in the A5 road upgrade comes as the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) wrote to landowners this week to confirm that land previously vested would be returned and that compensation would be paid.
While the details of the amount of money to be paid out is yet to be confirmed, the return of land comes just days after Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins said the logistics of an appeal were being ‘explored’.
A judge quashed the decision to build the road following a legal challenge brought by the Alternative A5 Alliance (AA5A) last month over the department’s obligations under climate change legislation.
Read more: Farmers vested land for new A5 to be given back
Ms Kimmins has said on multiple occasions since that she remains committed to seeing the A5 built.
Farmers land vested for A5 is to be handed back What lands were vested in DfI in November 2024?
The total estimated land required to be brought under DfI ownership for the completion of the whole A5 upgrade sits at around 3,000 acres.
However, the section of the route authorised last year saw vesting orders made for 1,900 acres, according to the Human Rights Act Impact Assessment.
It also noted that this section would impact 86 residential properties.
“Based on 2021 Census data this is estimated to equate to approximately 393 people.”
This includes 135 farms experiencing minor impact, 48 experiencing moderate impact and 57 experiencing “substantial adverse impact”.
An upgrade to the A5 was first proposed in 2007. (Liam McBurney/PA)
The acquisition of land has long-been a contentious issue surrounding the project.
What did the latest High Court ruling mean for existing vesting orders?
After then-Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd made the statutory order to commence part of the upgrade in October 2024, vesting orders were made for land required between Sion Mills and Omagh and from Omagh to Ballygawley.
These lands came under departmental ownership from November 25.
Under the Road (Northern Ireland) Order 1993, the department can “acquire any land otherwise by agreement” by making an order “vesting the land in the department”.
However, on June 23, the judge ruled that the decision to go ahead with the upgrade must be quashed alongside “orders made thereunder” – this includes the vesting orders for land, as confirmed by Ms Kimmins in the Assembly following the ruling.
Landowners were told this week that land had returned to their ownership as of June 27.
What work had been done to vested lands?
‘Preparatory works’ were carried out on vested lands following the transfer of ownership to the department.
Contractors cleared hedges, trees and erected fences ahead of the road’s construction.
Ms Kimmins said: “Work needed to happen at the earliest possible stage to ensure that, had the judgement been positive, the contractors were ready to go onsite, because we did not want any further delay to the scheme.”
DfI is currently proposing three options for impacted owners, either paying them for the land to be left in its current state post-preparatory works or paying owners to return the land to its former condition.
The department has also suggested it will carry out reinstatement works in lieu of payment, if preferred by the owner.
Any future progress on the A5 road will require lands to be re-vested in the department.