This article is from page 10 of the 2006-03-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
Individual planning applications are costing Clare County Council an average of €10,000 each, with the applicant expected to fork out a further €7,100 per application.
According to Clare County Councillor PJ Kelly (FF), this is often borrowed money, which puts even further financial pressure on young people when they are refused permission and forced to reapply.
The figures were revealed by the councillor at a specially convened meeting between the Kilrush Area councillors and planners, to address what were described as “inadequacies” in the county development plan.
In the course of the heated meeting, the planners came under attack for inconsistency in their discussion making.
“It seems to me the architects have a different interpretation to the planners and the planners have a different interpretation to the elected members,” Cllr Bill Chambers (FF) said of the controversial development plan.
Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said that the county development plan might be the councillors’ plan but it was not their interpretation. He gave an example of four people who applied for planning permission on land in West Clare.
The first applicant got the permission almost straight away. The second person was told he would have to sign up to ‘Section 47’, a local planning provision, which meant that no other houses could be developed on that strip, while the third applicant was issued with the same response. The fourth applicant was given the permission with no reference whatsoever to ‘Section 47’, according to the councillor.
The councillors gave examples of farmers who could not get permission for a home on their own land, and other examples of what they described as “inconsistencies”.
Senior Executive Planner Liam Conneally said Section 47 was an operational issue.
“It would be a tool for us to grant planning permission in high-development areas,” he said.
The planner maintained that the development plan was a good one, with the council members at the heart of it.