This article is from page 2 of the 2007-08-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
COUNTY Clare has one of the highest rates of area that is considered ‘grossly polluted’ in a survey of counties across eeRCO LEN IBaNs
A Department of the Environment report on how local authorities per- formed in 2006 has found that along with South Dublin County Council and Roscommon County Council, Clare County Council had the highest at four per cent of area that was con- sidered to be ‘grossly polluted’.
The survey found that 15 per cent of Clare is litter free, 45 per cent of the county is ‘slightly polluted’ and 41 per
cent is ‘moderately polluted’.
The survey also found that 21 percent of the county 1s ‘slightly polluted’. The survey also revealed that in spite of the continuing promotion of recycling, 73 per cent of household waste is still landfilled with 27 per cent recycled.
However, the figure is a dramatic improvement on the recycling-landfill ratio earlier in the decade.
In relation to litter enforcement, the study found that there were 2,064 complaints made resulting in 261 en- forcement procedures, though only two prosecutions were secured in the area of litter
In the planning area, it found that
one out of every planning applica- tion for one-off homes is refused. The refusal rate is higher for housing de- velopments where 38 per cent of plan- ning applications for housing schemes are refused.
In relation to appeals made to An Bord Pleanala, it shows that 36 per cent of decisions were overturned in relation to one-off homes, though in relation to housing schemes, this fig- ure was reduced to 30 per cent.
In the area of planning enforce- ment, it revealed that 274 complaints were made with 10 complaints being resolved through negotiation.
The report reveals that 197 Warn-
ing Letters were issued by the council under the planning acts with a further 129 Enforcement Letters issued. The report reveals that 11 prosecutions were taken into suspected ‘rogue de- velopers’.
In relation to housing, the figures show that 61 per cent of the county’s traveller community were housed un- der the traveller accommodation pro- eramme.
In common with other local authori- ties, Clare has a poor record in relation to the provision of playgrounds where the number of playgrounds provided per 1,000 per population was .06 per Cone