Pensioners told saving turf from bogs must end

Bank owners at Blackshade and Molerick bogs at Hill of Down have reacted angrily to the news that their long-held rights to cut turf are to be taken away. Many of the plots have been in family ownership for decades and cutting turf has been a family tradition, as well as providing fuel for the year. In recent weeks, bank owners received correspondence from the Department of the Environment informing them that, from next year, they would require permission to cut turf and that, in five years" time, they will have to cease cutting turf. The move follows the designation of a number of bogs in the country as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and National Heritage Areas (NHAs) as part of the EU Habitats Directive, with the aim of preserving raised bogs. However, the first any of the bank owners at Molerick and Blackshade bogs heard that their plots would be affected was a couple of weeks ago and they say they were never directly consulted. Compensation of just €3,500 per acre is being offered. Nan Wolff from the Trim Road in Longwood owns one of the plots affected. She said the banks are only used by the owners and their families and she said they are not damaging the bogs. She added they had not been informed they would have to stop cutting turf and that the first information they got was in a letter two weeks ago. Ms Wolff said they knew it had happened in Galway and Roscommon but did not know that they were going to be affected. 'We would have fought this. It is a family tradition to use the bogs and the owner"s parents before them did. The amount of turf we are taking out is not destroying the bog and it is tidied up after. We never allowed anyone to take out bog birch. We are not harming the bog and we do not allow any dumping,' she said. Ms Wolff went on to say that most of the bank owners are pensioners and could not afford to pay for oil and heating and that the compensation being offered is not enough. '€3,500 is not enough for fuel for one year. The people affected are all OAPs and wouldn"t be able to afford high fuel prices. They pay for their turf in July and start putting away their fuel allowance each week all year to pay for it to be cut the next year. They know they have fuel for the winter and save all year to pay for it. They could not afford to pay €1,000 for oil,' she said, adding that many of the bank owners would not have central heating in their homes. Ms Wolff explained that there are about 50 bank owners between the two bogs who have owned them 'since the time of dot'. She said there is no wildlife in either bogs and that while some flora was found in Molerick, nothing was ever found at Blackshade bog. Enfield Councillor William Carey said: 'The owners have all been cutting turf for decades and, with the price of oil and fuel, it is more important than ever that they be allowed to continue. They are very alarmed about the whole thing.' He added that bank owners had been offered compensation of €3,500 per acre but that with the price of oil now, it would be enough to buy oil for a few years, whereas an acre of bog would last them 20 years. 'The compensation is ridiculous. They are all very upset.' Cllr Carey said he had spoken to his FG colleague, Deputy Damien English, and that they are going to try to get an extension of another 10 years on the bog, which he said would be a big help to the people affected. 'I have a lot of sympathy for these people. The €3,500 was fixed in 1998 or 1999 when the price of oil was virtually nothing. With the price of fuel now, I suggest that these people should be entitled to three times that money,' he added. A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment said that bogland is a priority habitat under the EU Habitats Directive and that Ireland is obliged to protect it and restore it where possible. He explained that, as part of the measures necessary to comply with the directive, Ireland proposed 53 raised bog sites as EU SACs and declared an additional 75 as NHAs. 'The need to achieve an end to all turf-cutting on SACs was recognised in the 1990s and commercial turf cutting was prohibited in these areas. However, the then minister, Sile de Valera, allowed a derogation period of 10 years (until the 2008 season) during which domestic cutting would be allowed to continue. When Natural NHAs were designated in 2004, under an agreement with the farming organisations, a similar 10-year derogation was put in place, allowing cutting in NHAs until 2014,' he said. The spokesperson also pointed out the €3,500 per acre standard fee was open to negotiation in special cases through arbitration.