This article is from page 3 of the 2006-01-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
AN unprecedented 49 planning application were deemed invalid by Clare County Council during the first week and a half of this year.
Of the 90 applications made to the planning authority, almost 55 per cent were invalid for a total of 109 reasons.
The high number is believed to be due, at least in part, to a new application scanning system within the council.
Acting Director of Services Liam Conneally said that 25 of the applications were not accepted due to mistakes in newspaper advertising, 14 site notices were incorrect, 35 drawings proved troublesome, while there were mistakes with maps in 18 of the applications.
There were further miscellaneous problems with 17 other applications.
Meanwhile, a special meeting of the council on planning heard how pre-planning meetings for every application is not possible, as the local authority do not have the staff required.
Despite being regarded as best practice, Mr Conneally admitted that if he were to give every individual a meeting, he would require twice the staff currently allocated to his department.
County Manager Alex Fleming said he will increase the planning staff to allow the validation and filing of applications be reduced to one day rather than the five days it currently takes.
Horror stories of people being refused for planning permission were recounted throughout the three-hour special meeting.
Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) went as far as saying that, “people are being evicted from their own land through a backdoor system based on planning regulations and guidelines that are impossible to comply with.”
The council argued that planners were not consulting the members. They also claimed that the planners’ interpretation of the development plan was not as intended when passed by the council members. After hours of discussion it was decided that the subject warranted even further discussion at area meeting level before any changes or clarifications be made to the County Development Plan.