This article is from page 3 of the 2005-09-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
Clare County Councillors have voted to change the County Development Plan in a move which could see people who have nev- er lived in the county, being given the same planning rights as families who have lived here for generations.
Councillors supported a call from Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) to allow anyone who owned land in the county in January 1999 to apply for planning permission in areas where normally only locals would be considered as special Or Wor
Councillor Kelly said that he was simply
seeking a “wider interpretation” of the regu- lations and he was supported by other mem- eo Ese
They agreed with Cllr Kelly that it would be important to facilitate people who own land and want to help give their children a start.
In reply to the Councillor’s written motion, county officials pointed to Government poli- cy on rural development. The reply stated that to “adopt any person who owns land as being local would undermine the local rural com- munities in the county who are intrinsically linked to the their area.”
The reply went on to say that the “Minister’s policy makes no reference to persons who
have no connection with the rural areas other than owning land.”
The county’s Director of Services for Plan- ning, Liam Conneally, warned that the move would be, ‘in contravention of the rural plan- ning guidelines and also in direct contraven- tion of the Government’s National Spatial Strategy which is why I would like legal ad- vice.”
The director pointed out that the regulations refer to making exceptions in areas where planning permission would not normally be granted.
However, the County Manager said that he would proceed on the vote of the councillors.