Mr. Hugh Creegan:

There were actually 330 cellars filled in, which is quite a lot. The contract was carried out by digging narrow trenches along the street to a certain depth. If there is a cellar there, it is found as part of the excavation. As soon as it is found, a hole is put in the roof and a camera is put down to ensure there is no reason people could not enter into it. Eventually, the hole is enlarged, someone goes down and surveys the interior, which may have archaeological features, and the cellar is then filled with a weak concrete mix.

In terms of compensation, many of these cellars are severed from old buildings which existed decades ago. In those cases, compensation does not need to be paid. In cases where the cellars are associated with buildings, a nominal compensation may have to be paid. Effectively, the act of digging trenches along the roads has ensured that we have found most of the cellars. We might find the odd one or two in places we have missed, but we are satisfied that we have found most of them at this stage.