Concerns raised over centralisation and delays in Mayo planning system

Mayo County Council's planning application system was again under the spotlight at Monday's monthly council meeting.

Several councillors called for reforms to help young families secure housing in the county more easily.

The discussion highlighted tensions between councillors seeking more localised decision-making and the council's executive planning structure.

Cllr Peter Flynn expressed concern about what he sees as an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy in the planning process as a “senior planner seems to be involved in every single application.”

“I honestly think it's not helpful to the planners involved in the first place,” Flynn said, arguing that by the time applications reach the head of the Municipal District, “the Head of MD is simply rubber stamping what the senior planner has already been determined.”

READ MORE: Anger among Mayo councillors at planning refusals in rural areas

Flynn advocated for a return to 'the old system' where a planner dealt with an application from the pre-planning all the way to the planning report stage, with the planner's recommendation going directly to the head of municipal district “for he or she to make a decision, rather than having this additional layer."

Supporting young families
Cllr Harry Barrett framed the planning debate in terms of Mayo's future, drawing an analogy to the county's GAA ambitions. “I would like that we would see it as a case of helping Mayo win the All- Ireland,” Barrett said. “We make sure we help the GAA clubs with strong numbers, make it easy for young couples to rear their children in Mayo.”

Barrett argued that the county is currently “putting as many obstacles as possible in front of them to raise their kids in Mayo” and called for making it “as easy as possible for young couples to get planning permission.”

“We have to build at scale as quick as we can,” Barrett added. “The last thing we want is friction from our planning department.”

Catherine McConnell, Director of Services for Planning with Mayo County Council, defended the existing structure, explaining that planning decisions follow a clear hierarchy based on application type and scale.

“Decisions are made by head of MD – they take that responsibility very seriously,” McConnell said, adding that “the senior executive planner is not a new system, that role has always existed.”

McConnell acknowledged that the department “have had such a turnover of planners” but noted “that has settled down.” She pointed to positive indicators, stating “we have a full team again in planning, we have a very high grant rate, we have a high rate of decisions being upheld at An Bord Pleanála.”

The Director of Services also highlighted the department's accessibility, noting they “held nearly 700 planning clinics last year – that's a huge amount of contact with planners.”

Ultimate decision makers

Cllr Al McDonnell reminded colleagues that "”he planners are recommenders, not decision makers. The decision is made by the head of the municipal district.”

Cllr Neil Cruise reinforced this point, stating “planning is an executive function, we don't make the decision.” He added that “gone are the days of the councillor going in the backdoor and wrangling a planning for a client.”

Under the current system, as outlined by McConnell, applications are distributed to planners allocated to each municipal district area. All planning files are reviewed by the senior executive planner, and decision-making authority varies depending on the size and type of development, with larger projects requiring sign-off from the Director of Services or Chief Executive.

The debate reflects broader tensions between calls for streamlined planning processes to address housing shortages and the need for proper oversight and consistency in decision-making.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme