Leaving the National Planning Framework as it stands is “a death sentence to rural Clare,” the county’s longest serving politician has predicted.
A joint meeting with the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin (FF), Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar (FG) and Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan (GP) by Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) “with a view to addressing the damage done to rural Clare by National Framework Plan (NPF) and proposed planning guidelines”. He called on Clare’s Oireachtas members to organise the meeting. The NPF is a national document to guide high-level strategic planning and development for the country over the next twenty years.
Not one of the county’s Oireachtas members spoke up when the National Planning Framework was approved, Cllr Kelly recalled. “I’ve gone through 130 pages of it, there is no political input to it, written by a civil servant. If it stands, it is a death sentence to rural Ireland and rural Clare, all our lovely hopes and aspirations are gone down the drain”.
New concepts such as smart travel, ten minute towns are “all fancy ideas but to hell with the rural area. We have to take a stand,” the Lissycasey representative declared. “The fight needs to be taken,” Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) agreed. “Now is the time to act, there is no point acting when the plan is in place,” Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) commented.
Plans were devised before COVID-19, Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) noted, “since then we’ve had remote working, huge increases in housing prices in Clare because of amount of people wanting to live here, we have a huge shortage of housing but we’re still stuck with the same population targets”.
Clare’s Oireachtas members will feel the heat unless action is taken, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) believed. “Not all our current Oireachtas members were in situ but we’re saying unless you do something, there will be a difficult period for our county going forward”. She added, “we have a changed stage which is very clear to see, we don’t know the opportunities, the risks or the dangers after the pandemic but we can see we’ve become a popular county for people who want a better quality of life. Unless our Oireachtas representatives do something, they will have to stand by whatever plan will be foisted upon us.”.
Canvassing for the next General Election may be difficult if there is no intervention, Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) maintained. “In two or three years, our Oireachtas members will be looking for us to hold their hand visiting these communities, unless they’ve put up the fight, they will be knocking but they may not get in the door”.
Director of Service, Liam Conneally said Clare County Council hasn’t been sitting on their hands. “We’ve been flagging it with civil servants and elected members,” he said of the low population projections. “If you get additional population that we haven’t been able to achieve, we will gladly take it. Be prepared for the battle”.
