Castlebar councillors request meeting with department over ‘very undemocratic’ rejection of local area plan

COUNCILLORS from the Castlebar area have requested a meeting with the Department of Housing after their proposed local area plan was rejected by the Minister of Housing, Darragh O’Brien.

The Castlebar Local Area Plan was rejected by the minister on foot of a recommendation from the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR).

The OPR found that the plan breached national planning guidelines by zoning land for housing in ‘peripheral and non-sequential’ locations.

Members of the Castlebar Municipal District took issue with the rejection at their monthly meeting, with one councillor branding the decision as ‘very undemocratic’.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne requested that the council seek a legal opinion on the matter, which he claimed would force some people to buy houses in towns.

“There are people out there in this town that want to build a house, children that want to build a house on their father’s land or their mother’s land, and because of the decisions that has been taken they won’t get planning permission,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.

Cllr Kilcoyne said that councillors should not be spending so much time on development plans if they are going to be rejected by the Minister for Housing.

“If the minister is making the decision, then that’s fine. We shouldn’t be spending days and weeks and reams of paper - enough for a small forest - compiling a development plan and the minister says ‘I don’t like that, that’s it,” the Independent councillor added.

Cllr Cyril Burke labelled the rejection of the Castlebar local area plan as ‘very undemocratic’.

Cllr Burke, who runs an auctioneering business in Castlebar, said he knew of a couple living in two separate estates who were unable to build their own house on a site on the Rathbawn Road.

John Condon, Director of Services for the Castlebar Municipal District, said that the municipal district would have to pay for any legal advice on the development plan. A resolution would also need to be passed by Mayo County Council before any advice could be sought.

Mr Condon clarified that the new development plan had already taken effect with the amendments included by the Minister for Housing.

Cllr Harry Barrett, an outspoken critic of the development plan in the run-up to the local elections, said it would be ‘a colossal waste of money’ to seek a legal opinion.

“The Minister has ultimate sanction here, ultimate power to make this call, and no amount of legal opinion or otherwise will turn that,” said the Independent councillor.

Cllr Donna Sheridan, Cathaoirleach of Castlebar Municipal District, acknowledged that the proposed development plan breached national guidelines and said she could not see any success coming from the council obtaining a legal opinion.

Cllr Al McDonnell said he did not think the council had any case against the minister and instead suggested that the council meet with the Department of Housing to discuss the matter.

The Fianna Fáil councillor said the local authority had made ‘significant progress’ on development plans following meetings with the department in 2008 and 2014.

“It’s the best way to do it, by negotiation,” added Cllr McDonnell.

His proposal was then adopted by his fellow councillors.