This article is from page 8 of the 2006-05-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
WHY two of Clare County Council’s most senior planning officials apparently ignored professional advice to grant permission for a contentious development near the 17th-century Lemenagh Castle in the Burren, was the centre of controversy yesterday. Last year, plans were lodged by the Council for a one-off home by Anna Maria Murphy to be located between Lemenagh Castle and an area containing 27 recorded monuments.
Two previous applications for a home at the site were withdrawn in 2005 by Ms Murphy, with the second application withdrawn after the planner in the case had recommended refusal.
In response to the third application in one year for the site, the Council’s Conservation Officer, Risteard Ua Cronin, “strongly recommended” that planning permission be refused, due to the “importance of this archaeological landscape and the potential to do irreparable damage to the existing monuments and visual amenity and to set an unwelcome precedent for development in the vicinity of Lemenagh Castle and its unique 17th century house”.
Mr Ua Cronin said, “The provision of another new, modern house so close to these complexes would seriously impact on the monuments both visually and archaeologically.”
The area planner in the case recommended that planning be refused on four grounds. Firstly, that Ms Murphy didn’t meet the criteria in the Council’s ‘locals-only’ policy. Secondly, that the proposal would be visually intrusive. The third point was the unacceptable risk to ground water protection and the fourth the impact the development would have on Lemenagh Castle.
However, the reports by Mr Ua Cronin and the area planner are swept aside in a hand-written note on file by Senior Executive Planner, Brian McCarthy.
Mr McCarthy disagreed that there would be significant negative impact on the visual and archaeological setting of Lemenagh Castle.
The issue that Ms Murphy didn’t meet the criteria was cast aside by Mr McCarthy.
Mr McCarthy then requested the area planner to prepare conditions for a grant to Ms Murphy. The council then granted planning permission, ruling that it would not seriously injure the amenities of the area having regard to the rural nature of the site, the intended use of the proposed building, the policies of the Clare County Development Plan.