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