170 owners of ‘sterilised’ homes must wait until 2030 before Rosslare to Oylegate motorway begins construction

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

When the N11/N25 motorway connecting Rosslare Harbour and Oylegate was first proposed in 2009 those living along its proposed route feared the worst, feared that they would be forced to leave their homes and start their lives afresh. What they couldn’t have imagined was that they would be effectively living in limbo for 17 years, their homes “sterilised”, practically worthless, while they waited for construction to begin.

With an estimated start date of 2030, the 170 landowners living in the corridor of land where the new motorway will be constructed must wait a little longer, at least four more years before they can leave the properties where they had hoped to remain forever.

At the February meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC) an update on the progress of the motorway was provided by project coordinator, Bratislav Dimitrijevic. Confirming that the development was in the design and environmental assessment stage, Mr Dimitrijevic said those designs would be submitted to the department of transport by Q1 2027 and that environmental surveys, ground Investigations, and consultations with landowners were currently taking place.

However, having spoken to many of those impacted by the project, Councillor Lisa McDonald said engagement with landowners “is leaving a lot to be desired”.

“We are here a very long time, the public become very frustrated and disillusioned when projects are slow-moving,” she said. “The landowners don’t know where they stand, whether they’re going to be losing their house or not, and they have been dealing with this since 2009. Their houses have been sterilised for 17 years.”

In this instance a house is considered to be sterilised when it is situated along a proposed road route, meaning the owners are unable to sell, build, or develop their land while waiting for the project to materialise.

Barntown-native Cllr Garry Laffan said many of those living in his parish still “don’t know what’s going to happen to their properties”, while Cllr Robbie Staples asked why WCC couldn’t simply intervene now.

“Is there anything we can do for people who want to move?” he asked. “Can we issue compulsory purchase orders (CPO) to help them to move?”

Reiterating his previous promise that construction would begin in 2030, director of services Eamonn Hore said that, of the 170 landowners, only two had yet to engage with the council.

“We have held over 400 formal meetings with them – some on multiple occasions – I think most are happy with the level of engagement.”

Laying out in the starkest of terms, Cllr McDonald said these once young families are now couples approaching retirement age.

“We need to engage with them in a meaningful way in terms of how they can move on with their lives,” she said. “Will they be allowed to build another house in the locality they’re living in? My information is that the people in Drinagh are not being meaningfully engaged with. These are real people with real lives who don’t know what the future holds.”

Meanwhile, the N25 Rosslare Europort Access Road will commence construction in Q3 of this year and is expected to take two years to complete. When finished it will provide an alternative route to and from the Europort for passenger and freight at the Ballygillane Roundabout, reducing the number of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) travelling through the village of Rosslare Harbour.