Council admits it has no money to buy land for Slane bypass

There was an anger in Slane this week at the news that Meath County Council does not have the funds to buy land for the proposed Slane bypass. The news came on Monday, on a day when there was yet another accident in the Slane area, as an articulated truck jackknifed on the southern approach to the village. The N2 was closed for some time on Monday morning as a reasult of the incident. Cllr Wayne Harding accused the government of playing Russian roulette with people's lives and warned there would be further carnage in the village unless there was change. He had been told at Monday's meeting of Meath County Council that the council currently had no funding to buy land for the construction of the proposed bypass. Cllr Harding had asked would there be funding to progress with the compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) if the bypass got the relevent planning approval from An Bord Pleanala. He was told the council was committed to securing the construction of the N2 nypass for Slane. Council director of services Des Foley said that if a confirmed CPO was in place, the council would seek funding from the National Roads Authority (NRA) to acquire the necessary land and progress the scheme to cosntruction stage. Cllr Harding again asked if the money was there now to buy the land and was told the council did not have funding to acquire it at the moment, but subject to it being approved, the council said it would apply to the NRA for funding. After the meeting, Cllr Harding said there had been months of uncertainty over the project and, after years of campaigning, this was a horrible way for the people of Slane to find out the money isn't available. Niamh " Broin of the Bypass Slane Committee recalled that, a couple of weeks ago when the cuts in capital expenditure were announced, Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee had reassured them the money was available and the project would be advanced to 'shovel-ready' status. She said they had first to get over the hurdle of planning permission but they were told the money would be there if that happened. "If it is true now that the money isn't there, then we call on Deputy McEntee to explain the situation," she said. Deputy McEntee said this week that the minister for transport had made it quite clear that when planning permission was secured, the money would be available to purchase the land.