The compensation bill for north-east landowners who were forced to sell-up to make way for the construction of Aberdeen’s bypass has hit £117.1 million.
New figures show a total of 264 claims have been made to date by people who owned land along the 36-mile Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, up from the 241 bids reported in 2019.
However, government agency Transport Scotland said the final compensation cost remains “on target” to come in within the previous estimate of £135.7m.
The figure includes land compensation, agent fees, legal bills, district valuer fees and VAT.
Governments and some other public bodies can use compulsory purchase orders to force landowners to give-up their property for infrastructure schemes.
As well as CPOs, about 20 voluntary deals were struck for the road project, which was finally completed in 2019 at a cost to the government of £745 million, including compensation.
The new figures, released following a freedom of information request, show significant progress has been made in dealing with the applications since a previous disclosure in February 2019.
A total of 186 claims have been “settled on a full and final basis”, while a further 75 have been the subject of advance payments.
This compares to 69 which had been concluded in 2019, with 172 having received advanced payments at that time.
It is understood that a small number of claimants are still to submit a claim for compensation in relation to the bypass.
Compensation values are independently assessed by the district valuer.
Tribunal challenges
If landowners disagree with the amount offered, they can take their case to the Lands Tribunal for Scotland.
There is no statutory limit for someone to make a claim if they have had land taken from them by CPO.
However, they only have six years from the date of vesting – when the right to compensation is acquired – to make an application to the tribunal.
That period has now passed for the bypass, including the Balmedie to Tipperty section.
There are currently 64 claims lodged at the tribunal relating to both projects, although 63 of them are “sisted”, or paused, subject to continued negotiation.
Scotland’s Rural College is one of the landowners in negotiations.
It is seeking about £24m in compensation, arguing that land in owned at Craibstone could have been used for new housing.
An appeal against the college claim was dismissed by the Court of Session earlier this year.
The college said: “As part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project, a large amount of SRUC land at its Craibstone Estate was the subject of a compulsory purchase order.
“The Lands Tribunal for Scotland found in favour of SRUC at a preliminary hearing in respect of payment of compensation for the land, and the Inner House of the Court of Session has refused the Scottish Government’s appeal against the tribunal’s decision.
“The claim is ongoing and it is therefore inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
‘Fair compensation’
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “As for all major road projects, owners of land purchased for the AWPR/BT scheme will receive fair compensation, independently assessed by the district valuer.
“Anyone claiming compensation has the right to take their case to the Lands Tribunal if they disagree with the compensation offered. It would be inappropriate to comment on any individual compensation cases.”