NRA accused of changing goal posts along N59

NRA accused of changing the goal posts along N59 route


Anton McNulty

THE National Roads Authority have been accused of changing the goal-posts in relation to planning applications along national roads by refusing applications given if there is an existing entrance onto the road.
In recent months a number of people who have looked for planning permission on national roads in Mayo have been refused planning permission after the NRA objected to their applications. A number of these applications have occurred on the N59 - which in Mayo goes from Ballina to Leenane - and the main reason for the objections is access onto the N59.
It is the policy of the NRA to object to a planning applications along National Roads like the N59 unless they have access onto a county road or are within a speed limit. Even existing entrances or LIS roads with access onto National Roads are not considered safe by the NRA.
Independent councillor, Michael Holmes who lives along the N59 in Tiernaur told The Mayo News that scores of sites along the N59 will now not get planning permission because their only access onto the road is from a new or existing private entrance. He said a number of people who wanted to build near a farmyard were refused for this reason but they still had to use the entrance to get access to the farm. He claimed that instead of decreasing traffic it was increasing traffic on the road and putting lives in danger.
“I have a major problem with the NRA and what they are doing along the N59. They are not allowing people with existing entrances onto the road to build and this is affecting people who have taken over farms and want to build near their farm yards. They are encouraging people, who can, to build elsewhere but if you are running a farm you need to be close to it day and night. To access the farm they will still have to gain access onto the N59 a couple of times a day and by doing this it is creating extra traffic. The NRA are putting the farmer’s life in danger and anyone else who uses the road in danger,” he said.
A spokesperson in the planning department of Mayo County Council told The Mayo News that all planning applications along national roads were forwarded to the NRA for their input.
“National roads are the jurisdiction of the NRA and we have little influence on them, and all applications are directly or indirectly referred to the NRA. It is their call really and new development restrictions outside 50km per hour zones are pretty severe. Even if you have an existing entrance you are unlikely to get permission because it is creating additional traffic onto the road,” the spokesperson said.
Cllr Holmes claimed that the NRA have changed the rules on planning applications along national roads with regards to existing entrances. He said the NRA were applying the same rules regardless of the amount of traffic on the road.
“I accept you cannot allow planning permission on a dangerous bend but at no point do the NRA look at cases individually. You can’t compare the N59 at Ballycroy with other busy sections but no matter how wide or straight the road is they will apply the same rules regardless.
“There are a serious amount of plots of land between Mulranny and Newport which will be vacant because of this. I was talking to a woman whose daughter wanted to build along the N59 and she asked me if it would be better to make a new road or use the existing road. When I told her neither would be allowed she was shocked and couldn’t believe it. Her daughter won’t be able to build on her land which is an awful situation.”