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If you farm and find oil under your land in the United States or indeed, iron ore in Australia, happy days – subject to planning permission, etc, you are the owner of the resource and free to drill or mine it on your own behalf. Similarly, some of the greatest fortunes in rural areas in the UK accrued to those lucky enough to have found coal under their acres.
Not true in Ireland where, in all cases, the land acts transferred land on payment of an annual annuity payment to individual farmers, the mineral rights were reserved for the State, though where the land inside the demesne wall was left with the main house and the original owner, the mineral and other rights stayed with the original owner.
Under the constitution, special powers are available to acquire land for the public good
This, some may remember, was the basis of the bitter and long running legal dispute over the Navan lead and zinc mine and the neighbouring Bula ore body, but that’s all by the way.
For most farmers, the question is what entitlements do they have when the local authority wants to widen a road or the ESB wants to build a new power line.
The electricity authorities have infrastructure that is used to carry any kind of fibre optic cable to transmit commercial data. The network of these lines is viewable on the ESB Networks website.
At this stage, the annual payment negotiated by the IFA is €1 per linear metre. Clearly, a look at the website is worthwhile if you have pylons crossing your land. Under the constitution, special powers are available to acquire land for the public good. The ESB was also given special way leave powers to go on to farmers’ lands and build the electricity infrastructure but these powers are not blank cheques and an arbitration system applies if agreement cannot be reached.
Representative
The IFA has been recognised as the representative body for farmers and annual mast interference payments have been negotiated varying from €16.16/year for the smallest masts (not single poles), up to €268.22 per year for the largest structures. But there is also a payment if the power line, the ancillary income that might be available for land should be kept under review?
The whole area can be a legal minefield so good legal advice is critical but, with farm incomes under such pressure, property rights can be critically important.
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