Compulsory Purchase Order

Athy Town Council has power to acquire land compulsorily for all of its functions, including housing. This is done in cases where suitable land cannot be acquired by agreement. In order to acquire the land Athy Town Council must:-

• Make a compulsory purchase order (CPO), setting out the location and extent of the land to be acquired and giving details of the owners, lessees and occupiers,
• Serve notice of the making of the order on owners, lessees and occupiers,
• Publish notice of the making of the order in at least one newspaper circulating in the area.
• Persons affected by the order and members of the public are entitled to be advised about rights of appeal as part of the process of issuing and publishing notices. Appeals against the order may be made.

  If the order is confirmed, it may be appealed to the High Court. If no appeal is lodged, or if the appeal is unsuccessful, a landowner or other person with an interest in the property, may if agreement cannot be reached about compensation for the land, have the matter determined independently by an arbitrator appointed by the courts. The property arbitrator can be introduced into a case through the Land Values Reference Committee, The Four Courts, Dublin.