Drumaduff ‘dump’ land dispute ongoing

In the culmination of protracted negotiations with landowners at the site of the former Drumaduff landfill, which have been going on for more than five years, Limavady Borough Council has been informed that “no agreement has been reached with any of the relevant land owners.”

The ‘dump’ at Drumaduff has been closed since 2007 because of pollution concerns, when the Environment and Heritage Service suspended the council’s licence after a spot check found the site unsatisfactory.

Mr Crawford, who is responsible for environmental services at the council, told the Sentinel in February that in order to carry out the necessary clean up work required by law, the council have to buy up land in and around the site.

Negotiations with landowners have been ongoing for quite some time, with the Sentinel reporting on the ‘saga’ in 2007.

In an article which is now five years old, the former Mayor of Limavady Brenda Chivers is quoted as saying: “The Drumaduff saga has been going on for a number of years now. It has been brought back to Council time and again. The Council re-entered negotiations with the landowners but nothing came of that so it is time to get it vested and get the site sorted out.”

It is now 2012, and a technical services report made to council last night (Tuesday, June 26) confirmed that no agreement has yet been reached with landowners. The report states: “In order to undertake the necessary works Council must be in possession of the necessary lands and to that end Councils Land Agent has been in communication with the relevant land owners through their agents for some considerable time with a view to acquiring the lands by agreement. To date no agreement has been reached with any of the relevant land owners.”

Councillors discussed whether or not to take action to seize the land through compulsory purchase orders during last night’s meeting.

In the technical services report for the month of January, the man in charge of Technical Services at the council stated: “Officers met with Council’s Solicitor, Mr B Thompson and Land Valuation Agent, Mr J Arthur, to discuss the way forward with regard to land acquisition.

“Mr Arthur reported little progress with the agents representing the majority of land-owners, despite protracted negotiations. It was agreed that Mr Arthur would make one further approach to the land agents.

“Meanwhile Council’s solicitor advised that as it appeared all avenues of negotiation were being exhausted Council should consider other options to acquire the necessary land.”

Asked what the“other options” may include, Mr Crawford said: “The only other option are compulsory purchase orders.”

In this month’s report, Mr Crawford states: “It is now imperative that Council moves forward to begin the implementation of its Closure Plan for the site at Drumaduff or otherwise it will be in contravention of the Compliance Notice. Council must therefore decide how it wishes to proceed with regard to the acquisition of the necessary lands.”