’People should come come first’ - councillor

‘People should come first, birds second’ – councillor


Anton McNulty

THE National Parks and Wildlife Service came under intense criticism at a local Council meeting after a young man was recommended for refusal for planning because the site of his proposed house was located on a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
A meeting of the Belmullet Electoral Area Committee heard that Laurence Keane of Knockmoyleen, Ballycroy had planning permission for a dwelling house at Bunmore West, Ballycroy recommended for refusal because the proposed house was too high on the landscape and was located in a SAC.
Cllr Michael Holmes said the applicant was a young man who wanted to build in his home village and claimed the three sites he could build on would be appealed against by State agencies. He said one site was located near a salmon river and would be appealed by the North Western Regional Fisheries Board, and the access to another site was going onto the N59 and would be objected to by the NRA.
Cllr Holmes said the applicant would be willing to change the design of the house but claimed that if the NPWS objected to the application they would have reneged on an agreement made to landowners when the legislation was brought in.
“Three State agencies are going to deprive this young fellow of an opportunity to build a house where he has lived all his life. The house will be on the edge of a 100,000-acre SAC and if he can’t get half an acre to build a house there is something wrong somewhere.
“ The economy is in turmoil but the NPWS can still employ a helicopter to fly around Nephin to see if there is any sheep on it.
“When the SAC was signed into legislation, we had negotiations with them for three months and we got assurance from the NPWS at the time that when a son or daughter of a family in the area required planning there would be no problem with it, unless it would damage the site. If this is granted by Mayo County Council and appealed by the NPWS, they will be challenged,” he said.
His comments were supported by his fellow councillors with Cllr Gerry Coyle calling for a COP for the area which he said stood for ‘Conservation of People’.  “They are protecting everything except the people and this man’s family have lived in the area before they [NPWS] were in the area. There should be a COP – ‘Conservation of People’ – in place because there will be nobody left in that village in Ballycroy,” he said.
Cllr Tim Quinn said it was time somebody shouted ‘stop’ and said the people should come first and the birds second.
“It has come to a stage where we have to make up our mind and ask ourselves what do we want – an SAC or people. We have to concern ourselves about development and keeping a light on in the village and the Department have to take a stand and say people come first and birds second,” he commented.
Cllr Micheál McNamara asked that a planner help resolve the issue and if there was no other site available he called on the NPWS to compromise on the issue.