This article is from page 13 of the 2013-02-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
CLARE County Council could be set to scrap all planning permissions charges for new commercial buildings as part of a new plan to make Clare the most business friendly county in Ireland.
The local authority confirmed that they will be examining a number of possible changes to the planning process in the next month, including a proposal to wave all planning contributions.
This comes following a commitment by the Clare County Council to Shannon Airport Authority and Shannon Development to help give the Shannon area a kick-start for new commercial development.
A motion, put forward by Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council, requested that any waver for planning costs in the Shannon area be extended countywide.
“Under the act planning levies are not mandatory. A local authority can decide what levies they set in different areas. It is my opinion that rates collected after the first three years would cover the costs of waving the planning levies,” he said.
“We should take an initiative here and bring some business to Clare. This would, for example, give Crush- een a huge competitive base over somewhere like Gort. It would give the North Shannon an advantage over the South Shannon. This would create building activity in Clare and it would create a rates base for the future in Clare.”
The motion was seconded by Cathal Crowe (FF), who said that this waver could have the same effect as Ireland’s low corporation tax has nationally.
“The manager has already waved this for Shannon Airport and its hinterland. I think it is important to look at this as a countywide exercise,” he said.
“This would give us a real edge as a county. It would be like Ireland’s low corporation rate, except on a county basis. This would make Clare the best place in Ireland to do business.”
Clare County Council gave a cautious welcome to the proposal, but did indicate that money collected from planning development contributions don’t go directly into the council’s yearly budget – they are earmarked for works associated with the development itself.
“Careful consideration will have to be given to the extent of incentives that can be offered as a balance has to be struck between the need to support economic activity and cost recovery from services provision,” said a spokesperson.