CIÉ fails to quash docklands CPO

CIÉ has failed to quash a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on some of its property in the Cork docklands after a High Court judge ruled the consent of the Minister for Transport was not a pre-condition before the CPO process is started.

Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill said the consent of the minister was not an initial pre-condition, jurisdictional step or requirement before a CPO is begun and it can be obtained at any time up to the latest stage in the process.

CIÉ, and one of its group companies Iarnród Éireann, had brought proceedings against Cork City Council and An Bord Pleanála seeking to quash the making of a CPO on lands needed to build a road as part of a docklands regeneration scheme. An Bord Pleanála did not participate in the High Court proceedings, but had adjourned its own hearing into the CPO pending the outcome.

CPOs involve a process where the land is first identified and marked, the owners are then notified and asked if they accept or reject it, and the last stage deals with the level of compensation in which the city council is given 18 months to serve what is called “notice to treat” on the owners.

CIÉ objected to the CPO on the basis the lands involved were needed for railway purposes and that the “previous consent” of the minister was required before the CPO was initiated.

The company argued in the High Court that without getting previous consent significant expense would be incurred if the minister refused permission after the CPO process had been completed.

Cork City Council argued that the consent was only required up to the last stage in the process because this was the earliest point at which the lands were being acquired.

Mr Justice O’Neill said the process of making a CPO cannot be equated with compulsorily acquiring the land because it has no effect on ownership until An Bord Pleanála has confirmed it. While there was a potential wastage of money if consent was only obtained at the end of the CPO process, the same could be said of what would happen if An Bord Pleanála rejected it, even if there was prior ministerial permission, he said.

The judge was satisfied that the CPO is merely a stage or step in the process and the acquisition of the lands only begins to take legal effect when the owner is served with “notice to treat”.