This article is from page 7 of the 2007-03-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
CLARE County Council took in more than €10 million from its con- troversial scheme that targets devel- opers to fund public infrastructure, last year. The figure represents a 57 per cent increase.
In figures to be published at tomor- row’s adjourned meeting of Clare County Council, members will be told that the council raised €10.38 million through the Developer Con- tribution Scheme.
The figures show that the council raised €3.86 million through water charges and €3.48 million through sewerage charges.
The council raised €.17 million in car-parking, €1.18 million in road contributions, €.63 million in amen- ity and €1.11 million in recreational and community.
The council’s Director for Planning, Bernadette Kinsella said, “The lst of Projects of Public Infrastructure and facilities which are to be funded out of Development Contributions collected in 2006 is currently being compiled as part of the preparation of the Annual Financial Statement.”
She said that, “it 1s intended that this list will be available for the April meeting of council”.
She was responding to a motion put down by independent councillor, Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind).
The scale of contributions received is a good barometer of the county’s reese) eORYs
The figure reflects the scale of de- velopment growth going on through- out the county.
The scheme was put in place in the face of much opposition from coun- cillors and the building industry, who ETD sem MAW: UU OU E-N be
The council adopted the new scale of planning contributions in 2003. In the space of 18 months, the cost of water and sewerage connections to new homes almost doubled.
Those hardest hit in the new scheme are householders living in areas serv- iced by the Government-sponsored Serviced Land Initiatives (SLI).
During the first phase of the charg- es, householders in a number of SLIs were asked to pay €5,000 for water and sewerage connections.
The monies accrued from “recrea- tional and amenity” will go towards the implementation of the council’s play policy. This will result in a play- eround, costing between €300,000 and €400,000, in each electoral area.
In the early stages of the scheme, the council came under fire for not spending the money fast enough.
In the first full year, the council raised €10.4 million, but managed to spend only €4.69 million of the overall sum.