*TII are appealing granted planning permissions to properties on the N68.
WEST CLARE’s population has been “sentenced to death” due to current planning legislation, the county’s longest-serving politician has claimed.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) have been accused of appealing all planning permissions for dwelling houses granted on the N68. “This effectively means that farmers who inherit their land cannot build a house, they will be the new homeless, their rights are violated,” Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) declared at Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council.
Cllr Kelly tabled a motion asking the Council to call on Transport Minister, Eamon Ryan (GP) to make arrangements with TII “in order to facilitate planning permissions for farmers sons or daughters who take over the ownership and management of farms from their parents”.
A frustrated Kelly told the meeting that only 27 of the 160 TDs in Dáil Éireann were present “when what the civil servants proposed was rubber stamped”. He stated, “they sentenced the people of West Clare to death, that is what they did, they sterilised it and didn’t realise it, they genuflected before civil servants,” the Lissycasey representative stated.
He called on the county’s Oireachtas members to approach the Taoiseach, advise him of the problem “give him sixty days to sort it and if he doesn’t pull the plug”. Cllr Kelly said what occurred in the Dáil was “frightening”. He outlined that two people within the village of Lissycasey had approved plans appealed by TII. “There is an injustice here, our own Government is doing to us in West Clare what British Governments did in the past”.
“This is a typical example of attacking rural Ireland,” Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) remarked. “We have farmers and farming communities that need help and support, family members would like to live near their parents, that is a fact, farming is under attack from an economic point of view,” the Kildysart native stated. “We’ve seen the price of bread and milk is being attacked which is the margins that they survive on. This is wrong, we should make it easier and simpler for people to live wherever they want,” O’Callaghan added.
Umpteen meetings and briefings were held between staff and elected members of Clare County Council on the County Development “yet with the stroke of a pen, the OPR can change the most important aspect of our plan,” Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG) observed. He said, “I believe the Government is once again turning its back on rural Ireland but the day of reckoning for some of them is not too far away”.
Sons and daughters of farmers need to be facilitated to live on their property, Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) believed, “We are literally locking down rural Ireland, by making it more and more unappealing to run and manage a farm”. Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) acknowledged that persons involved in an agri-business need to be on site, “cameras won’t feed the animals or move stuff when it is needed”.
Support for the proposal was voiced by Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF), Cllr PJ Ryan (IND), Cllr Pat Burke (FG) and Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) while Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) stressed, “common sense needs to be used, for God almighty we cannot be stopping people from building on these routes”.
Government policy is “attacking our rural communities,” Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) affirmed while Cllr Michael Begley (IND) argued that the Council should “refuse to accept the Minister’s ruling”. Recalling her work on local projects with Macra na Féirme, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) detailed that they were “young people keen to have a future” in farming.
“We’re in the middle of a housing crisis, where will they go if we don’t allow them to build, into the towns and villages which are already under enough pressure,” Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) said. Mayor of Clare, Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) described the scenario as ‘total discrimination’, he argued, “we need to front up and take on the system”.
Ennis based, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) noted that the Council have until Thursday (May 11th) to counteract the views put forward by Junior Minister, Kieran O’Donnell (FG) directing that existing access onto national secondary roads be deleted.
Director of Economic Development with the Council, Carmel Kirby advised that the public consultation remains open until Thursday and that councillors can make observations directly to the OPR.
