This article is from page 8 of the 2008-06-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
MORE than 20 people in Clare who have had development on their lands frozen by part of the planning act are being treated unconstitutionally, it was claimed last night.
The council is damaging it’s own policy to halt rural depopulation by putting Section 47 orders on land Where one permission has_ been granted, members of Clare County Council were told.
The deferred meeting of the coun- cil heard from Cllr PJ Kelly(FF) who had asked for details in relation to section 47 conditions placed on the granting of planning in areas where the is a lack of development, known as structurally weak areas.
The condition means that no other permission, regardless of what it is, will be given on that land for a pe- riod, usually five years.
“I believe that many people in County Clare have had section 47s
imposed illegally. Section 47 is in- tended for urban areas, not for rural areas which are structurally weak. We are suffering from a condition called planorexia,” he said.
The councillor called for the “1- legal burdens to be removed forth- We LNee
Cllr Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) seconded the motion.
“In my view, the issuing of section 47’s is an unconstitutional act. Land where a section 47 is applied could
vary in size from 10 acres to 100 acres and no distinction is made. It’s inequitable,’ she told the meeting.
Councilor Pat Hayes (FF) said he supported his fellow councillors. “I sought legal opinion six months ago on this area.”
Councillors expressed concern that section 47’s were making freezing family lands where a second and subsequent children in one family would need to build homes.
ClUlr Martin Lafferty (Ind) said he believed the application of a section 47 is “often a matter of opinion. I know of at least one case where one planner was going to impose a freez- ing order and after discussions with a more senior planner. It wasn’t im- posed.”
In written reply to the councillor’s query, Director of Services, Berna- dette Kinsella, said that there have been 21 section 47 conditions 1m- posed in Clare since 2005 and she was not aware of any being removed in that period.
Cllr Kelly said he wanted officials to go back and find out how many of these had been imposed in structur- ally sensitive areas.
Manager Alex Fleming told the meeting that in relation to the ques- tion of the equal provisions in struc- turally sensitive areas was that the act itself made reference to such areas.