This article is from page 4 of the 2009-10-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
A SENIOR Clare county council- lor expressed hope yesterday that a decision by An Bord Pleanala to re- ject an appeal by the National Roads Authority (NRA) concerning a one- off home represents an “outbreak of common sense”.
Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) made his com- ment after the planning board gave the go-ahead for Sean Hill to build a one-off home along the main Ennis to Kilrush route near the village of BSS eos
Cllr Kelly has been a long-time
critic of the NRA opposing one-off housing development on national secondary routes in Clare.
Earlier this year, the council gave Mr Hill approval for the proposal in spite of NRA claims that it was con- trary to national policy.
The NRA appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala, stating that the proposal would endanger public safety and would adversely affect the use and safely of road users.
Yesterday, Cllr Kelly said: “I would hope that this represents a turna- round in An Bord Pleanala policy.
“This is part of the consistent 1n-
conistency in planning issues. Only a few months ago, a house on an ad- jacent site was refused planning per- mission by An Bord Pleanala.”
The board gave the go-ahead for the proposal after its own inspector recommended that planning permis- sion be refused.
In his report, Kenneth Moloney stated that “the development would contravene the objectives of the Sus- tainable Rural Housing guidelines where direct access from future de- velopments should not be permitted to national roads outside of the speed limit zones for towns and villages”.
Mr Moloney stated that the devel- opment would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard.
However, the board over-ruled his report “having regard to the avail- ability of adequate sightlines, the local housing need and the lack of al- ternative access from the applicant’s land onto a public road.
“The proposed development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area, would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and would therefore, be in accordance with the proper planning and development of the area,” the ruling concluded.