£2k per unit helpsDRD build new road

The Sentinel has also learned that the road authority got £2k per house from one Skeoge developer under an agreement that allowed it to put the money into new schemes at Culmore and Ballyarnett.

Several developers and private landowners lost land as a result of vesting orders to make way for the £5,572,896 roads project between 2005 and 2008.

Ronnie Faloon of Roads Service Northern Division revealed that nominal fees of £1 were paid to developers.

Equally, as of November last year £12k had been paid for land compulsorily acquired from private landlords, although compensation was not agreed for all such parties.

Mr Faloon wrote that ‘Skeoge Link 2’ between Buncrana Road and Fernabbey was built in two parts.

The Skeoge Link Roundabout on the Buncrana Road, which opened to traffic in December 2005, cost £2,066,471 to build and was funded wholly by DRD Roads Service.

Mr Faloon stated that: “Land required to construct the roundabout was acquired by agreement; two plots at nominal £1 per plot from 2 developers.”

Meanwhile, the Skeoge Link Roundabout to Fernabbey - including two roundabouts to access the local road network and areas zoned for Housing - was built under a second contract.

Approximately 2 kilometres in length it opened to traffic in March 2008 and cost £3,506,425 and was once again funded wholly by DRD Roads Service.

According to Mr Faloon 6.2070 hectares of land was Acquired by Vesting.

Roads Service paid £7 to seven developers for 4.7726 hectares of this.

But according to Mr Faloon not all private landlords have yet been compensated.

He wrote: “£11,998 has been paid to date for land compulsorily acquired from private sector landowners. (You should note that compensation has not been agreed with all of the private sector landowners.)”

It was also revealed that Roads Service brokered an agreement whereby a housing developer at Skeoge paid £2000 per dwelling unit within 4 months of Planning NI granting full or reserved matters planning approval.

This money was then used to pour funding into other roads projects in the city.

“Monies arising from this agreement was used to part fund the recent improvements to Madams Bank Road (Culmore Roundabout to Ballyarnett

Roundabout),” stated Mr Faloon.

Other greements of a similar nature are in place.

“Similar ‘Article 40 / Article 122’ agreements have been agreed in principle with the developers of H1B and H2 housing zones; these agreements are not yet operative and no monies have been transferred to Roads Service,” he concluded.