Gormley letter

Special meeting to discuss Gormley letter

Áine Ryan

THE STAND-OFF between Environment Minister John Gormley and Mayo councillors over the Castlebar and Environs Development Plan (2008-2014) has taken another twist as Labour’s Cllr Johnny Mee suggested that ‘the  Greenhorn party’ keep its nose out of Mayo’s affairs and return to ‘the leafy lanes of south Dublin’.
 “This is the most serious edict to come before any Council. Mr Gormley should keep his snout out of it,” quipped Cllr Mee at last week’s Castlebar Town Council meeting.
He was referring to a letter, dated July 11 last, from the Minister to County Manager, Mr Des Mahon, in which he directs the Council to make variations to the recently-instituted Development Plan. Minister Gormley particularly cites the amendment of zoning designations on lands outside the northern and southern bypass lines to ‘rural character’.  
“The current position is that the Minister has issued a direction. There is confusion over the Planning and Development Act but the Minister’s direction is still applicable immediately. Obviously there is an issue that the town development plan has to sit easily with the county plan,” said Manager, Seamus Granahan, at the meeting.
A core problem for Minister Gormley is the fact that there was already a provision for a projected population increase of 10,000 people – or three times the expected growth in the next six years – and the new plan appends another 14,454 onto this.
“However, the newly-adopted plan provides additional residential zoning for up to 14,454, ie a total zoning for an additional 24,454 persons over the six-year period, the majority of which is for low-density housing on the periphery of the town and outside the existing town boundary,” writes Minister Gormley.
“This is an extraordinary and unwarranted level and type of zoning provision without any substantial evidence of need,” he added.
Essentially, Minister Gormley has put a halt to the Council’s efforts to stem rural population decline, and facilitate the development of rural one-off housing. Rapping the County Manager on the knuckles he also notes that his department had already written to the Council on March 6 last ‘outlining serious concerns’ about the offending amendments to the then draft plan.
In light of Castlebar’s status as a linked hub town under the National Spatial Strategy (NSS), he warned that plans must achieve compact sustainability. “Plans need to be realistic and must aim to create the type of compact, sustainable, high quality urban centres that are increasingly essential in attracting investment and driving regional development.”
Cllr Michael Kilcoyne told The Mayo News that he welcomed the scheduling of a special Town Council meeting to discuss the debacle, on July 31 next.
“Of course, I disagree with Minister Gormley in relation to the reintroduction of the residency clause. But there are cases of rezoning additional land – like for example behind McHale Road – that I opposed because of too much traffic and too high a density of housing. Despite 200 submissions that was still pushed through,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.
This is only the third time that the Minister’s powers under Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 have been invoked. It effectively means the new plan hangs in a statutory limbo until agreement is reached.