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Donegal has worst planning record
01.11.10
DONEGAL has been rapped
for having Ireland's worst planning record with
nearly 60% of appealed decisions overturned by An
Bord Pleanála.
The board also blamed local authorities around the
country for the proliferation of 'ghost estates',
particularly in rural counties.
An Bord Pleanála chairman, John O’Connor, said he
had warned local authorities four or five years ago
about inappropriate large-scale housing developments
on the edges of towns and villages.
“Unfortunately, I think in the past, private
interest had too much sway over the public good.
“The tendency for each local authority [was] to look
within its own area as to what was the maximum
development that could be secured there, without
looking at what was happened in the neighbouring
authorities or to other authorities in the region,
so when you added it all up you got these inflated
figures.”
Local authorities had all been “planning for
themselves” without regard to zoning or developments
in neighbouring county council areas, said Mr
O'Connor in the Irish Times following publication of
An Bord Pleanála's 2009 annual report. |
The planning appeals
board found that Co Donegal had the worst planning
record with almost 59.5% of appealed decisions
overturned, followed by Roscommon at just over 53
per cent. The National Housing Development Survey,
published last week, found that Donegal had 133
ghost estates while Roscommon had 118. These were
particularly large numbers considering the low
population densities of these counties.
Meanwhile, Mr O'Connor said the board could not have |
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John O'Connor |
stopped the development
of ghost estates because only 9 per cent of local
planning decisions were appealed to it. Where the
board did approve developments, which are now ghost
estates, it was because the land had been zoned for
housing by the local authorities, he said.
“I’m sure the board bears some responsibility and
probably would have granted some cases...but in all
cases, this land would have been zoned and serviced.
The board’s role in the whole planning process is
that if land is zoned and serviced normally there is
a presumption that development will be granted.
“The issue of ghost estates, a lot of these you will
appreciate from the recent analysis, were down to
dubious local decision making.”
However, Mr O'Connor said bad local planning could
not be held responsible for the overall excesses of
the boom years. “This is a matter for macro-economic
fiscal and financial policies,” he said.
Counties with the highest rates of planning
decisions overturned:
1 Donegal 59.5%
2 Roscommon 53.3%
3 Longford 48%
4 Galway (excluding city) 46.8%
5 Waterford (excluding city) 44.3%
6 Westmeath 42.3%
7 Leitrim 41.4%
8 South Tipperary 39.7%
9 Wexford 38.8%
10 Cavan 38.6% |
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