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THE NATIONAL TRANSPORT Authority unveiled a major new plan for Dublin’s bus system this last Tuesday as it detailed its 16-route Bus Connects project.
The brand was initially mooted last year but detailed plans for radial routes (to and from the city centre) were unveiled this week in a new discussion document.
It was also revealed that the plan would entail the acquisition of sections of around 1,300 front gardens around the city – prompting concern from many homeowners along affected routes.
Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) would be used to acquire sections or slices of gardens, the NTA said. There are no plans, however, to knock any buildings as part of the project.
So how do CPOs work? If you live along affected routes should you take any action now?
We’ll answer some of the main questions about the project here:
The NTA is pitching Bus Connects as part of a major overhaul of the current bus system. The city will slowly “grind to a halt” unless radical action like this is taken, CEO Anne Graham said.
A continuous bus lane is proposed in each direction along the sixteen suggested routes – in addition to maintaining two traffic lanes. Cycle lanes will be segregated from other traffic.
Trips to the city centre will become more predictable and reliable, it’s argued, and journey times will be cut by up to 50% along each corridor.
In addition to the front gardens, land from outside commercial premises will also be taken in order to allow for significant road widening along some sections. Trees will also need to be removed, and footpaths will be moved and narrowed.
You can find lots more detail about the plan in our article here from earlier in the week (including the proposed routes). So far what’s being published is a discussion document only. A full public consultation will take place in the autumn.
The NTA hopes to have the work completed by 2027.
A CPO is a legal function that allows statutory bodies take possession of land or property for the common good without the agreement of the owner.
The owner of the land is compensated for the transfer and a guiding principle of the transfer is that the owner is left in the same financial position as before the transaction.
CPOs can be used for a variety of reasons and are most associated with infrastructure projects like the building of roads, railways or urban development.
CPOs are not final and objections can be raised.
The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland has a detailed guide to how a CPO takes place.
It explains that after the statutory body decides to make a CPO, the affected parties will be notified of the decision and newspaper notices will also be published.
The public notices will state that the CPO is to be put on public display and is to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála.
The notices sent to the owner or occupier must provide information about how and where to object to the proposed purchase.
If no objections are raised, then An Bord Pleanála can grant the CPO.
However, affected parties are permitted to lodge objections and if they do so a Public Local Inquiry is held.
Following this process, the ultimate decision to confirm, amend or reject the CPO is made by An Bord Pleanála.
This decision can of course be further challenged in the courts which lengthens the process further.
A recent high-profile CPO case involving IDA Ireland and a Kildare homeowner was concluded in the Supreme Court after four years.
Business organisation Dublin Town has been among the groups this week to express concern about the scale of the task facing the NTA if the Bus Connects project is to be completed on time.
Regarding the CPO purchase of gardens, the removal of parking spots and the removal of trees, the business group said “we believe that this will involve significant time delays to reach agreement with the relevant property owners and other affected parties”.
If it gets to the point where a CPO is awarded, the owner of the property lodges a claim for compensation.
This compensation is set at the market value for the land and the owner is entitled to carry out their own assessment of the value.
The value of any retained land that may be negatively affected by the transfer is also included in the price of compensation.
If the amount of compensation is disputed it enters an arbitration phase before the final valuation is set.
Where sections of gardens are taken the NTA has said it will arrange for the landscaping of land and replanting of gardens where required.
No. The NTA is set to publish a more detailed report about properties that will be impacted in September or October, followed by a full public consultation.
The advice from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) is that the current Bus Connects discussion document from the NTA has no standing as yet in planning or in CPO terms.
The society plans to hold a series of public information sessions at the end of the summer to allow people in affected areas ask questions about the process (you can find their website here).
The Citizens Information website, which provides information on right and entitlements, advises professional advice be sought if you receive a CPO. Fees can be offset against the compensation.
“The compulsory purchase system is an extremely complex area. You should get the professional advice of a chartered surveyor as soon as you are served with a notice relating to a compulsory purchase order (CPO).
The fees charged by a chartered surveyor are part of a normal claim for compensation.
That’s when to seek out the services of a chartered valuation surveyor with experience in this area.
According to the SCSI:
“This advice will cover how best to deal with your Notice and preparation of your claim for compensation.
The aim of any compulsory purchase order should be to leave the affected party, in so far as money can, in the same position as before the property/ land was acquired.
All the NTA has said so far is that it expects compensation to be in the tens of thousands of euro – but the amounts, obviously, will vary greatly depending on the amount of land required and the location.
The SCSI advises that “no two properties are the same, so each individual case needs assessment”.
“Amongst other issues, the compensation amount should reflect both the market value of actual land being acquired and any reduction in current market value of the retained property/land.
It will also generally include costs for factors like disturbance and professional representative fees, along with legal conveyance costs.
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All you need to know is that it will never happen.
@Fr.Todd Unctious: how about a contribution from cyclists. Registration tax and insurance
@techman: if there were more cyclists this wouldn’t be needed.
@techman: A contribution for a bus lane? Are you a bit soft in the head?
@Dotty Dunleary: There are separate cycle lanes in the drawing bit you never want to pay for anything anyway.
@techman: Oh, how about something like Value Added Tax and maybe a tax on purchasing a bicycle? Maybe tax the food or fuel that powers the cyclists, we can add VAT and tax again? Any ideas?
The buses that will run along these corridors will be longer than the bendy buses dublin previously had. They wont go into housing estates and will run every 4mins at peak times. If it takes the majority people out of cars by using them i’m all for it.
Not one garden should be touched by the NTA, until they can police the bus lanes already here , one parked car reduces Dame Street into a One lane road. Dolphins Barn is a nightmare, Someone should collect data from the bus driver’s and act upon it. Then see if we need more bus lane’s.
@John Nolan: yes it can do but bizarrely they clamp cars parked in the bus lane so they have to then stay there for half the morning blocking the lane!
It all seems like a scam to put in bicycle lanes. All the bus lanes in the world won’t speed things up if there are bus stops on top of one another. Anyway, as long as Regina Doherty gets her way for the oul cyclists who cares about people losing parts of their property to CPOs. I’m not against protecting all road users, but the recent 1.5 and 1 metre BS and now this smoke screen. Regina getting her way for the invested interest she has in cycling. More abuse of power.
@yoser hughes: it’s a radical plan, a radical plan changed the way transport works in the Netherlands and made it public transport, people and cycling friendly.
@yoser hughes: Bus stops on top of one another are not really a problem as long as the driver is a driver, and not a cashier too, with inspectors randomly patrolling the buses like they do the Luas. Buy your ticket at a machine, in an app, in a shop, wherever. But not from the driver. They should be stopping for 30 seconds, max. There must be almost no countries left in Europe where you can pay the driver.
@Barry Somers: I’m all for radical, depending on where the reasoning is coming from, and in this case I don’t believe for one second they are looking at any other countries infrastructure to compare ours, it’s not in our nature. If that was the case, there are many examples of decent well managed health systems from other countries we could and should be embracing, instead we pump billions into the disgrace that is the HSE, without anyone attempting some radical decision making to make the very basics like accident and emergency function to purpose.
@yoser hughes: Thats total bullocks! Nothing to do with a bicycle user, any plans for a city network of cycle lanes have been scrapped and priority bus lanes are now what’s on the table.
@yoser hughes: that’s tinfoil hat stuff you’re talking, this city is choking and sticking plaster solutions will just eat money with no solutions. An actual plan like this stands a chance of making Dublin livable revises we don’t waste too much money scheme/scam.
@Dotty Dunleary: Do you even understand that the proposals announced provided for cycling lanes along side the new bus lanes, so.there.was no scrapping of new bicycle lanes. As I said, a smoke screen to implement them, while removing parts of people’s homes.
@yoser hughes: i understand more than you, this isn’t a bicycle user solution, it’s not what cycling campaigners want, it’s a solution for buses primarily.
@Dotty Dunleary: So they bin the proposals for the new bicycle lanes and then this proposal for the bus lanes to include segregated bicycle lanes, but you (being so understanding of the whole situation and all) claim that this is not what cyclists want. Really , Do tell us all what else could be done for the cyclists ?. Maybe CPOs of the actual homes as well as the gardens should be proposed, and this space then reused for a half dozen cycling lanes in each direction. Is this what cyclists are looking for if they are not happy with these proposals.
@yoser hughes: I don’t have to justify a proposed transport for Dublin plan to anyone, however I will say that the National Transport Authority officials look set to abandon key sections of the Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan in favour of bus priority with car lanes maintained.
For instance, the plan will involve removing cycle lanes from Rathmines Road Lower and diverting them on an indirect route which appears to go through Cathal Brugha Barracks and stops abruptly at one of the most dangerous intersections for people cycling..
So this would mean on routes into the city would give priority to number 1: Bus.. and I assume Taxi’s will retain access to Bus lanes, it will maintain traffic lanes for private cars, and will force bicycle users into a small wedge of the road, diverting cycle users across the new bus lanes at junctions, and in places stopping cycle lanes abruptly…
If that’s not clear enough then I don’t know what is!
@Dotty Dunleary: cyclists may have to stop and pay attention every now and again and are not happy about that. Entitlement being felt so.
@yoser hughes: Sorry, you’ve lost me their, i’ll only respond to mature logical comments.
@Dotty Dunleary: Well, your loss. I can’t do anymore for you I’m afraid.
@Barry Somers: WE ARE NOT IN THE NETHERLANDS. Move there if you love it so much. It may work but not because it did there.
@yoser hughes: Attention to what? You really lost me. Each comment I wonder what your talking about?
@Dave.: Was I in a conversation with you at some stage ?.
Ripping the heart out of city living, to promote the urban sprawl. Ten years after this is done the journey times will be the same.
The idea if implemented smoothly and properly is fantastic.. However when as anything involving civil works in Ireland gone smoothly or fantastic.
Private ownership of land in Ireland is sacrosanct and we are proposing to do that to 1600 houses along premium streets. This will be held up for years. Think if it comes to your street and your residential side of the road is picked for CPO but not the derelict institution or shops on the other side …
Cork street widening in Dublin widening first started in 1941 and it started 50 years of urban blight on that area..
So knowing this, why isnt 1-2 years spent publicly inestigating solutions here that dont involve this sort of problems.
1) Install all the wonderful cycle routes along the canal, the dodder, the quays etc. NONE OF WHICH touched any private housing.
2) Smart tech. – bus gates, bus priorititazation at all traffic lights, express bus stops
3) FREE busses at rush hour – eliminate delays at boarding
4) Enforce existing parking and driving on bus lane rules.
@Joe Clery: DCC already proposed cycle routes through residential areas called quietways, residents objected in favor of keeping car congestion outside there front doors. This was along the Dodder in South Dublin.
People need to stop relying on mass transit and just start walking where they need to go, like the good old days
I not loosing me bleeding garden to have it replaced by cyclists wearing unpadded tights over Lycra shorts. No Padded puffins holders in my front garden.
All this plan is doing is giving bus drivers a blackmailing chip to hold over commuters. when you compare carrying capacity of a bus to a tram you are left wondering why only certain parts of Dublin deserve clean modern trams. Why only residence of Malahide and Sandyford need a metro line competing against the current dart system.
Its local business that will effected with removing car parking spaces. more dirty busses spraying fumes into peoples homes. Its straight out of the 70′s and its environment impact shows that clean energy transport for west Dublin is nothing more than a peddle bicycle.
Let them pay for it. #taxbikes
@techman: they already pay like the motorists do with general taxation. Motor tax does not pay for the roads. If you want to tax bicycles for road use then we can bring in an additional road tax for all based on weight.
@techman: Tax your imbecile comments, yiou owe the journal a fortune!
@Kal Ipers: Don’t waste your time trying to introduce facts to idiots.
@Kal Ipers: Bicycles are the only vehicles not insured, that has to be looked at.
Who makes these stupid decisions
yay
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