The reason, according to the council, is the land is owned by the travellers which means the authority cannot go on to it.

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But the plan would need the support of Economy Minister Sir Reg Empey and Regional Development Minister Peter Robinson to go ahead - partly because the company plans to raise money by selling off some its land.

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Land-based itineraries also go off the beaten path that is well tread by cruise passengers on shore excursions, to see less-visited and more pristine areas.

FORBES: Galapagos Islands By Land And Sea

Authorities say the land in question is owned by the government, but activists argue villagers have been farming the land for many years and have nowhere else to go if it is developed by a private company.

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Local officials go to great lengths to protect companies on their patch, often by giving them preferential access to land or credit, or by easing bureaucratic constraints for them.

ECONOMIST: Selling foreign goods in China

If the Department of the Environment's estimate that, under current land-use patterns, 169, 400 hectares will go from rural to urban use by 2016 is correct, the proportion of England that is considered urban would increase 1.3 percentage points, to 11.9%.

ECONOMIST: Housing

True, lending was collateralised, mostly by land and shares, the price of which, until this decade, always seemed to go up.

ECONOMIST: Time to grow up

Malone, on for Evans, was unable to land the conversion though to leave Quins trailing by a point, and the replacement then had to go off himself to leave Brown as the third-choice kicker.

BBC: Harlequins 5-6 Leinster

And, on the basis of recent history, it is fair to assume that the Bundesbank and many Germans would go bonkers if they thought they were really being forced to bail out a bank that bankrupted itself by rampant speculation on land and property.

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