This article is from page 2 of the 2006-06-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
CLARE County Council has hit back at accusations by An Taisce that there was a lack of transparency in the decision to allow a contentious house development, near Lemanagh Castle in the Burren.
Last month, two senior council planning officials ignored professional advice from the area planner and the council’s conservation officer, and granted permission to Anna Maria Murphy to build a house near the 17th century castle.
Senior Executive Planner, Brian McCarthy, overruled the recommendations to refuse permission, after visiting the site at the request of Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) and discussing the application with Senior Planner, Liam Conneally.
In response, An Taisce appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala, claiming that there was “a lack of transparency in establishing the circumstances in which the recommendations were overturned”.
The organisation claimed that the intervention was “not based on any memo or considered deliberation which is available for consideration on the planning file”.
However, in a five page submission to Bord Pleanala, supporting the granting of permission, the council said that An Taisce was “factually incorrect and disingenuous”, in claiming that the decision lacked transparancy.
In its submission, the council did not refer to the report made by conservation officer Risteard Ua Cronín, who said that the proposal had “the potential to do irreparable damage to the existing monuments and to set an unwelcome precedent for development in the vicinity of Lemanagh Castle and its unique 17th century house”.
Instead, the submission states that the proposal “will not have any adverse effect on the visual setting or appreciation of Lemanagh Castle”.
Pointing out that the site is located almost 500 metres to the east of Lemanagh Castle, the council states that, “the proposal will be functionally, physically and contextually detached from the visual setting of the castle, completely obscured in views by a number of intervening houses. The castle will not be directly visible from the proposed house and viceversa.”
The council pointed to the absence of any objection from the Department of the Environment over the archaeological impact of the proposal and said that Ms Murphy also met the criteria for securing permission under the council’s ‘locals-only’ policy.
“The applicant is the niece of the landowner who was born in the area and has been living with her uncle for the last five-six years and involved in part-time farming on the family landholding . . .”
A decision is due in September of this year.