A5 inflation ‘frightening’ says O’Dowd as he commits to recommend proceeding with Derry road

Derry Journal

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00:00The A5 scheme, I think, is on the cards for 17 years.

00:03So it is far too long from announcement to delivery.

00:08Now, that is delayed for a variety of reasons,

00:11and it can involve procurement, design, challenges

00:16to procurement, challenges to design, legal challenges,

00:19public inquiries, and quite rightly having

00:21to deal with landowners who are seeking compensation

00:24for us taking their land.

00:26So there are so many different moving parts

00:28in a major scheme that it can cause delay.

00:31But I do think that we, as an executive and government

00:35departments, need to sit down together and engage

00:38as to how we can speed these things up,

00:40because the inflationary pressure alone on the costs

00:43is frightening, never mind anything else.

00:46So I think we have to look at all the policies and frameworks

00:51we have to deal with to ensure that they're

00:53effective and efficient and necessary.

00:56And the key objective is that we deliver for the public good.

01:01Trevor Clarke for supplementary.

01:02Thank you, Minister, for his answer.

01:04Minister, you'll be aware I wrote to you recently

01:06in relation to the A6 scheme, and one farmer

01:08who is with it now almost eight years for his compensation

01:11payout, much of that through the bureaucracy

01:14of his own department, officials coming

01:16to do survey after survey.

01:18At what stage will you intervene, Minister,

01:20in some of these to prevent all these surveys being carried out

01:23and unduly unnecessary pressures being

01:27applied to farmers who are actually waiting

01:28on compensation for so long?

01:31Minister.

01:32Well, I tend not to intervene in individual cases.

01:35I think it would be wrong for me to do so unless there

01:37was exceptional circumstances.

01:40There is well-tested and proven policies, procedures,

01:43and legal tests in place for the Minister

01:46to keep his nose well out of, to be quite honest with you.

01:49But if there is exceptional circumstances

01:51and I'm comfortable that I'm not overriding my powers,

01:57then I will look at a case.

01:58But it would be the exception.

02:01Minister will be aware that I and champion colleagues

02:03in West Troyne have long been campaigning

02:05for the upgrade of the A5 road.

02:08Far too many lives have been lost in this road,

02:10and far too many families and communities

02:12have been left devastated.

02:13So we are eager to see the road upgraded.

02:16Can I ask the Minister for an update on the A5 road upgrade,

02:19please?

02:20Minister.

02:21Yes, I can confirm that at this morning's executive meeting,

02:24I briefed executive colleagues that in the coming days,

02:28I will be issuing them with my initial response

02:31to the Planning Appeals Commission's report.

02:34I will also be making a recommendation

02:37that we proceed with the A5.

02:39I am conscious that this is a cross-cutting issue.

02:43So I will issue the papers to my executive colleagues.

02:47I will await their feedback.

02:48And then I will submit a further paper for mid-August

02:51for their approval on the moving ahead with the A5 project.

02:55That's fair going.

02:56Supplementary.

02:57Thank you.

02:58And I really thank the Minister for that answer.

02:59We really welcome news for people right across West Troyne

03:02and Fairbairn who do use the A5 road.

03:04As I say, we've been waiting patiently for progress on it.

03:07So I do thank you for the work you've done

03:09and the commitment you've made to deliver the A5.

03:12Can I ask the Minister for his assessment of the impact

03:15that this upgrade can have on road safety?

03:19Sir.

03:20I've given careful consideration to the 30 recommendations

03:23within the Planning Appeals Commission's report.

03:25I'm also acutely aware of the road safety aspects of this.

03:30I believe that if my recommendation to approve

03:33is endorsed by the executive, then what we are actually doing

03:36is not only providing a state-of-the-art road,

03:40correcting regional imbalances, but we're also saving lives.

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