Mayo council planners accused of “always looking for a reason” to refuse planning permission

A WESTPORT-based engineer has claimed that Mayo County Council and senior planners are ‘always looking for a reason’ to refuse planning permission rather than ‘trying to find a positive’.

Keith O’Connell, a chartered engineer based in Westport, made the claim in a planning appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanala where an applicant was refused planning permission to build a home on land near Louisburgh.

Martin Fox was refused planning permission by Mayo County Council to construct a house and garage on land he owns in Pulgloss, Carrowmore, Louisburgh after failing to demonstrate a social or economic link to the area as required under the Mayo Development Plan.

Mr Fox appealed the decision and in the appeal, Mr O’Connell acting as agent, outlined that his client lived in a house on the same site from 2004 to 2015 but had to leave the area after the house was repossessed by the Bank of Scotland due to financial difficulties.

Mr Fox managed to hold onto ownership of the remainder of the site and Mr O’Connell said he has since turned his financial situation around and wished to return to the area and build a new house.

Unfounded

IN the appeal Mr O’Connell said it was his contention that, although it was not recorded in the planners report, it was the opinion of a senior executive planner in Mayo County Council that only one house be granted in rural areas for any one applicant. This he said was unfounded in planning legislation.

“We discussed the proposal with the executive planner at the planning clinic of Mayo County Council and she agreed that the senior planner’s quasi-principal was not part of the Development Plan, but that it would be hard to convince her boss to change his mind.

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“At present, Mayo County Council are always looking for a reason to refuse an application, rather [than] trying to find a positive in an application, therefore currently in Mayo we are starting from a negative,” he said.

Mr O’Connell also claimed that following on from the planners report being issued as part of the decision process, the council ‘never suggested what documentation would be required in addition to the suite of information we had already provided’.

“Having spoken to the senior planning officer post decision, he stated that there is ‘nothing’ we could have provided that would have changed his mind,” Mr O’Connell stated, adding that granting planning permission would support the local community and would not be ‘haphazard development’.

Mr Fox was granted planning permission to build a dwelling house on the site in 2003 and lived in the area with his family until 2015 when the house was repossessed by the bank. Mr O’Connell contended that Mr Fox meets the requirement for permission to build a house as he had previously lived in the area for ten years and now wants to retire where the original family home was.

Housing need

“WE contend that the applicant had a housing need for the area previously and now has a housing need having spent ten years of his life in the area.

“The applicant has since rebuilt his career and company and is seeking permission for a small home where he can reside and his children can have a permanent base,” he stated.

In giving reasons for refusing planning, Mayo County Council stated that the dwelling house which is referred to as the ‘original family home’ was built in 2004 on land that was purchased by the applicant and was not connected to family lands.

Mr O’Connell also submitted a judicial review taken against Fingal County Council for refusing permission to construct a dwelling house where a High Court judge stated that it was ‘somewhat ironic that in the middle of a national housing crisis’, a planning authority would reject a development on the grounds the applicant wants to live less than 4km outside a rural village.

Mr O’Connell concluded that Mr Fox has been through substantial financial and personal difficulties and appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála to ‘find the right decision for his family’.

A decision in the case is expected to be decided by mid-March next year.