Planning

Dubious goings on in Charleville:

Cork County Council has asked An Garda Síochána to investigate a land deal where the council agreed to buy 20 acres for €11.6 million at a time when the land was allegedly available for €8 million, writes Colm Keena, Public Affairs Correspondent

The Irish Times has learned that the council entered into talks over the land with two bank executives in October 2005, when the executives had not yet agreed to buy the land from property company Pushkin Developments.

Pushkin was seeking €8 million for the 20 acres of zoned land in Charleville, had engaged a selling agent, and had placed advertisements in the national press.

Permanent TSB branch manager in Cork Denis O’Reilly and Cork area branch manager Brian Cremins signed the contract with the council. They, and any partners they may have, stand to make a €3.6 million profit if the deal goes ahead. The contract for purchase was signed in April last but the sale has not been closed. It is not unusual for purchasers of property to engage in a sub-sale.

An Taisce are not too happy in Sligo:

Major questions have been exposed on Sligo County council competence and political interference in the planning process by a refusal by An Bord Pleanala to allow a housing development go ahead in West Sligo.

That’s according to An Taisce who appealled a decision by Sligo County council to grant planning permission for a 12 house development on the N59 at Corballa.

An Bord pleanala upheld An Taisce’s appeal on the grounds that it was not happy the site would be drained satisfactorily, and that the increased traffic on the N59 would endanger public safety.

Commenting today, An Taisce spokesperson Ian Lumley said planning permission should never have been granted by Sligo county council in the first place.

He also said the vested interests of individual landowners are being put before public health and safety risks by Sligo county councillors.

For once a developer says he has a problem with planning:

The developer of a proposed ecotourism project in the Lough Key forest park in Co Roscommon has described An Bord Pleanala’s decision to block the scheme as ‘‘bizarre’’.

Brian Dobbin, chief executive of the Newfound Group, said it appeared that ‘‘a small minority’’ was in control of development planning in Ireland. The group had applied for permission to build 300 holiday homes, a 100-suite hotel with spa and conference facilities, and a golf course in and around the Lough Key park.

It already operates the Humber Valley resort in Newfoundland and is building two schemes in the Caribbean. Roscommon County Council granted permission for the Lough Key scheme, but objectors – including An Taisce and the Department of the Environment – appealed to An Bord Pleanala.

Ructions in Sligo Council:

Despite recommendations from council planners that permission be refused for construction of a dwelling house, permission was granted following a letter to the council from Senator Eamon Scanlon and Clr. Albert Higgins.

So claimed Clr. Declan Bree at Monday’s meeting of the council which ended abruptly when the county manager and council staff walked out after the manager had warned he would not tolerate a personal attack on a staff member.

I have heard of this type of behaviour, where the recommendations of planners are completely ignored, all too often.

[Hat tip Simon]

Lorna Siggins at the Irish Times notes an interesting planning story from Galway:

Galway city councillors voted unanimously last month to halt all works at the company’s Coolough site, several miles from the city centre, and the latest action by the council is due to be discussed tonight by the council.

A report circulated to councillors by the local authority late last week said that the company had quarried to a depth of 2.48m (10ft) below the 15-metre Ordnum Datum levels approved in the planning conditions.

She continues:

Galway City Council told The Irish Times that it could not respond to a series of questions before Monday’s report to the full council. However, a spokesman said that the local authority did not have any “sweetheart deal” with Lackagh Quarries, and all contracts for materials were subject to full public procurement proceedings.

I know this area well. The roads around Dunkettle are already heavily congested, putting in another 600 houses with the current road system would make traffic levels chronic. But O’Flynn wants to carry on regardless, we will have to wait and see on this one.

He said that given that the roads issue raised by An Bord Pleanala related specifically to the immediate area, Mr O’Flynn’s request for a meeting “will be arranged in the context of normal pre-planning discussions”.

The proposal by O’Flynn Construction also included plans to build an equestrian centre and a retail outlet adjoining the protected Dunkathel House and a garden centre, but these were deemed unacceptable and inappropriate by An Bord Pleanala.

Among the third parties to the appeal was Glounthaune Community Association.

It has welcomed the decision, particularly the planning board’s concerns that the project would have provided insufficient facilities while affecting the area’s amenities.

“This is a watershed decision for all communities in Cork in their stand against unsustainable suburbanisation,” said an association spokeswoman.

“We are not anti-development,” she added, “but we’re encouraged by this decision in continuing our efforts to consult and work with developers and the planning authority and are happy to participate in any future consultation process.”

A vivid reminder of the Trim castle controversy. It strikes me as odd that the council approved the plan in the first place.

The plan also included the demolition of the mill and the construction of 15 “aparthotel” suites, restaurants, a bar and lounge, and 44 apartments in a separate four-storey block.

The council’s approval was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by An Taisce and local residents.

The board said that the site, on an inside bend of the River Suir, was of unique sensitivity and national importance because of its proximity to Cahir Castle and its position in an architectural conservation area.

It ruled that the proposed development would adversely affect the settings of the castle and the character of the conservation area because of the excessive height, scale and bulk of the hotel.

It would “fail to achieve an appropriate scale in relation to the castle”, the board said.

I think if the Greens should be doing more than condemning corruption that happened in the past, they should be asking what corruption is happening right now.

The Green Party is to bring a private members’ motion before the Dail condemning corruption in the planning process.

The motion condemns those parties that have failed to discipline their members for what it describes as “their collective amnesia” with regard to monies received from developers.

It also “deplores the culture of alleged corrupt planning and rezoning that has resulted in urban sprawl, where schools, playgrounds, local jobs and public transport were not provided in tandem with housing.

Party leader Trevor Sargent claimed corruption in planning had created hundreds of thousands of victims.

“These victims are mainly ordinary taxpayers fleeced by the big developer friends of ‘Bertie the Builder’,” he claimed.