This article is from page 15 of the 2006-03-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
IT is totally unacceptable that Clare County Council is proposing to increase development contributions on the builders of one-off homes in the county.
That is the view of the chair of the Council’s Special Policy Committee (SPC), Councillor Richard Nagle (FF).
He said that it already cost €10,000 alone for individuals to lodge planning applications arising from architecture fees and environmental specialists.
Cllr Nagle made his comment in response to a council document which stated that the development contributions to the council must be reviewed due to the increasing demand for projects such as road improvements, footpaths and lighting.
Currently, the council charges €3,570 per house in rural areas in the county and €4,330 per home in urban areas.
In the document circulated by the council, the Planning Authority is proposing a range of charges for houses with various square metres, rather than calculation by square metre over 200 square metres.
The council is also seeking to increase the rates for commercial and industrial developments “as the amount sought for funding of projects that road improvements, footpaths and public lighting are creating a greater demand than the present level of charge will provide.”
Cllr Nagle said, “It is totally unacceptable that charges on one-off homes would be further increased as those home-owners don’t have the benefit of footpaths or lighting.”
Cllr Nagle also said that the document including the proposed revisions should be circulated to all councillors to allow a debate to take place in the full council on the issue.