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Gas to the west i Stock 637002850
Case Studies

How we developed a Land Rights Strategy for SGN to construct a gas transmission pipeline in Northern Ireland

15 May, 2025

At a glance

This £250m project brought gas to the west of Northern Ireland, providing eight towns with a natural gas connection

It involved a 77km high pressure route, branching off into a 128km length of intermediate pressure and 500km of low and medium pressure

This fast-track project required consent in a very short timescale, and ultimately it took just 3.5 years to get gas flowing

This £250m project brought gas to the west of Northern Ireland, providing eight towns with a natural gas connection

 

Dalcour Maclaren’s involvement

  1. Advising on emerging route corridors – reviewing 176km of routing possibilities and consulting with around 670 landowners to assess the best options
  2. Facilitating access for intrusive and non-intrusive survey work, including walkover environmental surveys, 600 ground investigations for archaeological trail pits and geological surveys for ground conditions
  3. Negotiating the land purchase for six above-ground installations
  4. Implementing a bespoke land consenting strategy, including organising and attending landowner engagement days and two rounds of planning consultation 

 

We Challenge

One of the biggest challenges we faced was the sheer number of landowners that we dealt with over the course of the project. During the route planning phase, we were in touch with close to 670 landowners. Every one of those points of contact matters to us – the relationships we build are vital to the success of the scheme, especially when it comes to keeping the project on time and on budget. 

“DM took an innovative approach to finding solutions, demonstrating a ‘can do’ attitude. As with all projects there are challenges to overcome from time to time, but the DM team took these in their stride rising to the challenge whilst acting professionally and respectfully. 

Infrastructure projects are demanding on several levels but without the landowners and stakeholders on board you don’t have a project, so selection of the right Lands team is a vital part of your critical path to delivery.”

We Innovate

Innovation often comes about as a result of being forced to solve problems under time pressure. As this project was particularly fast moving, we weren’t able to use tools such as Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to obtain consents within the timeframe. We had to come up with other ways to make sure that consents were agreed as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We put together a strategy that standardised payments across the scheme – such as crop loss and disturbance, standard payments for intrusive survey works and professional fees – so that each agreement didn’t have to be negotiated separately. We were challenged on this by the Ulster Farmer’s Union and attended a series of face-to-face meetings to explain the methodology of the package. Ultimately this allayed their concerns and resulted in a positive outcome with a fair and reasonable agreement settled. 

We introduced an incentive payment for early signing which was very successful, obtaining 98% of consents within the 12-week deadline. Since first using this approach on this project in 2015, it’s now widely used in projects across the board. 

We Care

This was the first project that DM undertook in Northern Ireland[1] , and we were adamant from the beginning that we needed local boots on the ground. Our six Agricultural Liaison Officers (ALOs) on the project all had the local knowledge and agricultural background to truly understand the nuances of rural Northern Ireland and its people. Their respect for the landowners and ability to build relationships between the client, contractors, landowners and stakeholders were key to keeping the project moving forward. 

Delivering at pace 

When delivering Gas to the West we carefully balanced giving each individual landowner the attention and respect they deserved with the drive to standardise our processes and move the project forward at pace. We invested in relationships early in the scheme, ultimately allowing us to stick to our tight timeline.