West Cork group calls for more consultation on planning policy

By Frank O Donovan Saturday March 13th, 2010

A WEST Cork pressure group staged a protest meeting at County Hall on Monday in an attempt to get a major review of planning policy and full consultation on planning matters with local communities in the area.

More than 100 people carrying placards braved the biting wind before the council meeting and a letter of protest was handed in the County Mayor Derry Canty.

The Beara-based group, the Special Scenic Landscape Committee, hit the headlines last April when its members occupied the council chamber and demanded a review of planning policy in West Cork. Council officials took no chances on Monday and the door leading to the council chamber was locked to stop any protesters from getting in.

The group’s secretary, Finbarr Harrington, said it was with regret that the group was left with no other option but to attend Monday’s council meeting to “once again express our disappointment with the current planning policy in West Cork.”

He said the group was disappointed that the issue had not been dealt with since last April. “We were led to believe that our group could participate in full consultation with the council’s Planning Policy Unit (PPU) and our councillors early this year, but it has not happened,” he said.

He added that the group was unable to set up a meeting with County Manager Martin Riordan and senior PPU staff, despite numerous requests by the five councillors in the area – Danny Crowley (FF), Dermot Sheehan (FG), Pat Murphy (FF), Noel Harrington (FG) and Mary Hegarty (FG).

“We are not looking for any planning favours. All we want is a fair deal for our rural and coastal communities and for the next generation.”

The group wants three things:

A written commitment for a meeting with Mr Riordan and senior PPU staff;

A full review of planning policy in West Cork as a matter of urgency;

Full consultation with local communities and stakeholders during the Local Area Plan process and a genuine attempt to develop policies that would accommodate young people who want to live in their own communities.

One of the protesters, Alan Harrington from Eyeries, told The Southern Star that he has been looking for permission to build a house on his father’s land for the past three years. “I’ve changed the design three times and it has been suggested to me by planners that I should find a more recessed site,” he said.

He added that there are three existing houses near his proposed site. “I work hard for a living and all I want to do is build a house, so that I can live and work in the community where I was born,” he added.

The five local councillors were present for the protest, but they didn’t attend Monday’s meeting of the council. Fianna Fail’s Danny Crowley said he would not attend any meetings until this isue has been resolved.

(Continued from page 1)



“I am staying away from meetings to highlight how this group has been dealt with by senior council officials.

“There is a lack of consultation with farmers and fishermen in the area, who want their children to have the option to live in the communities where they were born and bred. I won’t support any attempt to force these young people to live in urban areas,” he said.

Mr Noel Harrington (FG) said he was supporting the concept of local people being facilitated to live and work in their own communities. New national and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines that have been brought in were making planning applications very difficult.

REVIEWED

In a statement, council officials said that, following the protest by the Special Scenic Landscape Committee last April, it was proposed that around 100 planning cases would be reviewed and, to date, ten cases have been referred to the council.

A review of planning applications in West Cork last year shows that eight out of 10 planning applications were granted. Of the 218 one-off houses for which planning permission was applied, 22 percent of refusals were on public health grounds; 19 percent were refused because of visual amenity, 15 per cent because of traffic hazards and 14 per cent for coastal scenic / housing need.

In West Cork in 2008, there were 36 planning appeals, of which 16 were overturned by An Bord Pleanala. In 14 of these cases, the council granted permission but it was overturned on third-party appeal to An Bord Pleanala.

A proposal to amend the Scenic Landscape Policy was withdrawn from the County Development Plan 2005-2015 so the restrictive policy of the previous County Development Plan has been retained. The council has clarified this situation to the Special Scenic Landscape Committee.