Finn decries ‘total depletion of the countryside’

Amid the current housing crisis, an Independent representative has called for more detail on a report on the number of planning permissions granted by Mayo County Council.

Mayo County Council received a total of 1,264 planning applications in 2023, according to a report presented at the April meeting of the local authority.

Of these, 72 percent were granted while 5 percent were refused. Two percent of total applications were withdrawn.

Last year, 48 planning decisions by Mayo County Council were the subject of appeals to An Bord Pleanála. In 93 percent of these cases, An Bord Pleanála confirmed the initial decision taken by Mayo County Council.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District, Cllr Finn demanded to know how many permissions had been granted between January 1 and July 1 in 2023. He made this request after noting that 846 planning applications had been made for dwellings by July 13, 1978.

“No wonder the countryside is being depleted,” Cllr Finn said, “because in 1978 we were led to believe that the country was in depression and recession and everything else, and nobody had anything. They hadn’t the price of their dinner. Still and all we could get 846 planning permissions in by July.”

“What’s going on in this country is the total depletion of the countryside, and the evidence is there to prove it. I think it’s a total and downright disgrace that that countryside is being treated like that,” he added.