The High Court has rejected a challenge by Córas Iompair Éireann and Iarnród Éireann to Cork City Council’s compulsory purchase order for railway lands required as part of a proposed Docklands road scheme.
Mr Justice O’Neill held that the council did not need the Minister for Transport’s consent before making the CPO. Instead, consent under section 130 of the Transport Act 1944 could be obtained later, provided it was secured before the notice to treat was served.
Cork City Council made the Docklands Infrastructure Acquisition Order No. 1 of 2008 and notified the rail companies in May 2008. The order included several plots owned or occupied by them.
The applicants objected on the basis that the lands were required for railway purposes. They argued that section 130, which requires the Minister’s “previous consent” before railway land is compulsorily acquired or rights over it are compulsorily interfered with, made consent a condition precedent to the CPO itself.
The council disagreed. It maintained that a CPO was only one stage in a longer compulsory acquisition process. It nevertheless applied to the Minister for consent on a without-prejudice basis in July 2008.
The High Court accepted that the rail companies had substantial grounds to bring the challenge and therefore granted leave for judicial review. The parties had agreed that the hearing would then proceed immediately as the substantive case.
On the central issue, the court found that making a CPO does not itself amount to acquiring land. The order must first be confirmed, and even confirmation does not transfer ownership or possession.
Mr Justice O’Neill held that acquisition begins to have legal effect when a notice to treat is served, after which the acquiring authority can move towards possession and eventual vesting of title.
The court therefore refused all relief sought. The ruling left the CPO process intact, subject to Cork City Council obtaining the Minister’s consent before serving any notice to treat affecting the railway lands.