This article is from page 14 of the 2006-09-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
AN TAISCE yesterday raised questions over Clare County Council’s competence in exercising its functions after An Bord Pleanala threw out the council’s controversial decision to grant planning permission for a house near Lemanagh Castle.
Earlier this year, professional advise from the north Clare area planner and the council’s conservation officer, Risteard Ua Cronin to refuse planning permission, was disregarded by the council’s senior planner, Liam Conneally and senior executive planner, Brian McCarthy.
Mr McCarthy disregarded the recommendations of the two lower ranking officials after visiting the site at the request of Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) and consulting with Mr Conneally.
However, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by An Taisce who raised questions over the manner in which the council arrived at its decision.
In its appeal, An Taisce said: “There is a lack of transparency in establishing the circumstances in which the recommendations of the Area Planner and the Conservation Officer were overturned and whether this was as a result of the initiative of the Senior Executive Planner or any managerial intervention.
“Whichever was the case, the manner in which this intervention occurred is not based on any memo or considered deliberation which is available for consideration on the planning file.”
In response to the An Bord Pleanala decision, an An Taisce spokesman said yesterday: “For a decision to be refused on such a large range of grounds raises major issues of the competence of the council in exercising its functions.”
“It also raises the hypocrisy of current Clare County Council policies to promote tourism in the county, while at the same time degrading the setting of one of the county’s premier heritage legacies.
“It reinforces mounting concern regarding Clare County Councils legal obligations with regard to protecting the safety and operational integrity of the county road system,” the spokesman added.