Motorway “kills off” 1,600 houses

AN architect for Jackson Way Properties has told a hearing into the company’s €47 million compensation claim that it could have built 1,600 houses and apartments if the last section of the M50 motorway had not been routed through its lands.

John Fleming, who runs his own practice in Dublin, retrospectively drew up hypothetical plans for a mixed housing development which he said would have been ideal for the site at Carrickmines in South County Dublin. He said he sought the advice of the estate agents Hamilton Osbourne King on what kind of properties would have sold well at the time Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council took over 20 acres of the land by compulsory purchase in June 2000.

Jackson Way are seeking payment for the 20 acres plus compensation for the loss of potential development value of a surrounding 89 acre site.