This article is from page 14 of the 2007-10-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
COUNCILLORS angry at what they describe as planning inconsistencies demanded to know last night “how long is a piece of ribbon?”’.
Cllr John Crowe (FG) had asked that a “detailed criteria for ribbon de- velopment in all areas be put before the council for its consideration”.
He said that there “appears to be no consistency in what defines ribbon development and people are being refused permission because of it.
‘For instance, when there 1s an 1n-
fill site that hasn’t been developed, a genuine local rural person should be able to build.
“The bottom line, is that local ru- ral people should be entitled to build homes.”
Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said that, “In some places, people are told five houses is ribbon development. In other cases, they are told that it’s four. And in some cases, house number seven might be going in and ribbon CLAYeA Le) oy eatornlmp ye mon (oO ONSNLBLOITeOr
“Tt’s totally unfair. What I want to know is how long is a piece of rib-
bon?”
Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) seconded Cllr Kelly’s motion.
He said that a “guideline is not a rule and it is definitely not a policy. J am aware of two people who are homeless in my area because of rib- bon development guidelines.
“They were refused permission to build and now they are on the coun- cil’s housing list.”
Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) said that it needs to be made clear that the “council is not responsible for the legislation on this – it’s our TDs up in
the Dail who are responsible.”
Members of the council asked to know, apart from numbers of hous- es, what other guidelines affect the eranting or denying of planning permissions to avoid ribbon develop- ment.
Council officials told the meeting that ribbon development is not to be encouraged as it is not in the interests of best planning.
Issues such as an excess of septic tanks and public health had to be considered. If a ribbon development oexexey ae (onc er-MVONT- DUMB Reco MUMBO oM NNN T(EN lc
of nowhere, then pressure comes on to provide public lighting and serv- ices where it is not economical to do so, councillors were told.
Cllr John Crowe said that his con- cern is for the inconsistencies with which the definition was being ap- plied, as this was affecting people’s ability to build homes and live in their own areas.
“If we are going to have a definition then it should be interpreted with consistency – the bottom line is that a genuine local rural person should be able to build.”