£200m deal on land in trouble

Agriculture Minister Michelle Glidernew was today at the centre of a furious row after it emerged that government property which was to be sold to raise millions for Northern Ireland farmers would now fetch around 3% of what was originally expected.

The sale of the plant testing station experimental centre at Crossnacreevy outside Belfast was announced last year as a way of raising £90m in support for the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme, which provides help for farmers building storage capacity for slurry, thus protecting waterways from pollution.

But the sale is now expected to fetch £3m-£6m, rather than the £200m originally estimated, after planners said they would reject proposals for developing houses. Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) officials told the Stormont Agriculture Committee that an initial informal valuation had suggested that with residential planning permission, the site could be worth £200m.

But planning advisors have since told DARD that the Crossnacreevy station is unlikely to be re-zoned for housing in the short term and the downturn in the housing market has also caused residential building land prices to drop significantly since their peak in June last year.

Alternative uses for the site could include tourism, mineral development, recreation, renewable energy or a cemetery, but any sale for these options is likely to fetch £3m-£6m.

DARD told the committee it was now reconsidering the sale of the property but has decided to await the findings of an Estate Strategy and business case considering options for the location of the work being carried out at Crossnacreevy — both due to be produced by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in September.

Tom Elliott, vice chairman of the Stormont agriculture committee, said few farmers had wanted the station to be sold as it carried out valuable work for the agricultural industry.