Compulsory Acquisition of Land

Naas Town Council has the 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 the 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, and send a copy of the order and the notices to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with a request for confirmation of the order.

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 to the Minister, at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Custom House, Dublin 1. The Minister may confirm, amend or annul the order. However, he/she may not do so without first holding a public inquiry, unless the appeals are withdrawn or unless they relate solely to compensation issues.

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 1.