Madam, - The letter from Jerry Cowley, TD (January 5th) is a repeat of all the vote-craving, populist nonsense and untruths that the rest of the competing politicians here in Mayo and elsewhere have been peddling shamelessly for too long.
His barely disguised swipe at those very useful bogeymen, planning officers (the "unelected officials"), is a common one now, as if getting oneself elected bestowed equal planning expertise. In the same way, he can only be referring ("entirely undemocratic") to the poorly enforced planning regulations and to An Bord Pleanála when it occasionally attempts to curb the worst excesses of the willy-nilly placement of one-off rural housing all over the Mayo countryside.
He must have nodded off a bit, as he forgot to drag in those familiar whipping boys, An Taisce and the Dublin 4 set, without which, in these parts, no tirade against environmental concern is complete.
Farmers are in the juicy position of being able to receive large agricultural grants while simultaneously being in the building site development business. The absence of any zoning regulations in rural areas facilitates this. In Britain they had the wisdom, between the wars, of strictly controlling ribbon development and one-off rural housing. The government also took the planning decision process out of the influence of petty local politics, and the UK landscape today shows the benefit of this farsighted policy.
By contrast, look at what Mayo - which the tourist blurbs urge foreign visitors to experience - is now becoming. The open spaces, byroads, peninsulas and hillsides - even fenced-off commonage - are being filled in with one-off, suburban-style houses, all discharging chemical, natural and other wastes into individual cesspits with predictable effect on groundwater. Soon the northern slopes of Croagh Patrick will feature the back gardens of bungalows all along their base and approach ridges. For how much longer can visitors continue to be talked into coming here to view this? Visitors have been frank in their disappointed comments for years now, but nobody in power takes a blind bit of notice.
Conor Brophy has it right, in his letter which appeared alongside Mr Cowley's. He refers to the unsustainability of what is happening and explodes the tired myth of the awfulness of "sons and daughters of farming families being denied planning permission, etc." This scenario is the usual gloss to cover up the flogging of sites for as much as the market will bear.
Finally, Mr Martin Cullen's intention to open up the countryside to even more one-off houses must be resisted at all costs. If he has his way, we can write off what remains of the genuine Irish countryside. - Yours etc.,
MICHAEL MURPHY,
Pinewoods,
Westport,
Co Mayo.