*Doughmore Beach has been one of the most contentious planning applications within the county. Photograph: Arthur Ellis
PRE-QUALIFIER RULES need to be introduced for persons wishing to object to planning applications or else an increased fee for objections, a Clare TD has argued.
Clare projects have been held up by objectors based outside the county, Cathal Crowe TD (FF) said. He has previously remarked that individuals should not be entitled to object if they are not living in the county of the proposed development.
Elaborating on these comments, the Meelick native outlined, “I’ve made that suggestion several times and it was primarily thinking of projects like the Killaloe Bridge Crossing, the Clonlara flood defences and the coastal erosion wall at Doonbeg, they are three important projects and were all held up at the planning objection phase by people not living in the county. I think there should be some pre-qualifier rules for people who wish to object, you should be living in the county or someway impacted by the planning situation”.
He continued, “I’ve suggested several times in Government that we have pre-qualifier rules, maybe we should increase the fee for certain planning applications, for example if someone wanted to object to the flood defences in Clonlara or the Killaloe Bridge Crossing for €20 they can delay the project for several years, it did happen”.
“If a neighbour wants to object to a project they are undertaking I think it should be accessible, I still think €20 is quite low because an individual trying to build a house has to spend thousands in terms of engineering and architectural work but yet the objector pays €20, I think if an objection is to be serious when it’s a multi-million euro project I think the objection fee should be higher, that way you will really weed out the people who are genuinely concerned versus those who for €20 want to make a bit of noise,” Crowe commented.
In January, plans for the construction of a permanent family home in Cratloe for Deputy Crowe and his family were deemed to be withdrawn by Clare County Council after he decided not to respond to a Further Information Request from the planning authority within six months.
Crowe was requested to submit a site layout plan with a slope of 1:8 or less as per the EPA guidelines and was advised it may be necessary to carry out revised percolation tests and a trial hole evaluation. He was also asked to clarify the source of the proposed water supply to serve the dwelling.
When asked by The Clare Echo if his planning application could not be advanced in order to progress such legislation, Deputy Crowe responded, “I’m not commenting on that today. It’s a family matter”.
He clarified, “My comments and proposals which I’ve made across several years are in relation to the Killaloe Bridge Crossing, Clonlara flood defences that we should have a way for having those properly and fairly assessed without having them delayed at the planning phase. If you were living beside the Killaloe Bridge Crossing of course you could have a litany of legitimate concerns and you should have a mechanism to object but if you were living on the opposite side of the country, I don’t see why you should have a right to object in the first place. I have never in my wildest dreams looked at a project in Dublin and said I must object to that living in my home in Co Clare, I don’t see how the reverse of that could work.
“I haven’t yet studied other countries but I’d be surprised if in other EU countries they would allow someone from the south of Spain to object to a project in Madrid, I don’t know if it works like that. Now that we’ve a shortage of houses coming on stream, now that we have key projects delayed in the country I think we now have Ministers saying we need a way of short circuiting this planning process, of course you have to protect one’s rights to object but also it should be on reasonable grounds and I think some pre-qualifying grounds should be there as well”.
Crowe confirmed that he has objected to planning developments. “I’ve objected to a windfarm development in Bridgetown (Fahybeg). If developed, they will be the largest wind turbines in Ireland. We all embrace renewable energy but some parts of the county have seen a proliferation of turbines, I said to people in the room that night that if the turbines were smaller then maybe I would not have shown up at their meeting but I would share their concerns, they are iron giants springing out of the ground, there are many reasons I have concerns, I objected and paid €20 out of my own pocket. If my proposal were to come to pass I would have to pay more and I would gladly pay more”.
