An Taisce says Clare council is unwise to jettison development plan

An Taisce has warned against "a free-for-all" type of approach to housing development in rural areas in Co Clare in response to Clare County Council's proposed rewriting of its 1999 County Development Plan.

The National Trust has urged the council to reconsider the proposed variations to its development plan, stating that it would be very unwise to jettison the carefully crafted strategy after it had been in operation for only less than two years.

Against the advice of the county manager, Mr Willie Moloney, and the council's planners, members of the council overhauled the 1999 plan in March, throwing out the council's rural planning policy.

Instead of a presumption against residential development in rural areas laid down in the 1999 plan, the councillors - in one of a number of last-minute amendments - passed a clause permitting residential development in the open countryside.

The overhaul of the plan commenced last July after figures for the first six months of the operation of the plan showed that there was a significant increase in planning refusals throughout the county.

The changes - which are expected to become council policy later this month when changes to the plan are formally adopted - follow concerns expressed last week that over 40 per cent or 18,000 homes built in the State last year were "one-off" houses in rural areas.

The councillors also made it easier for people to obtain planning permission in sensitive areas such as the Burren.

In its submission, An Taisce argued against the "free-for-all" approach to development in the countryside "as Clare is very dependent on tourism as well as having a larger-than-average area of fragmented limestone of one type or another".

It stated: "Both the groundwater and tourism resources will be undermined by the proposed change which will yield no long-term benefits to Co Clare."

An Taisce said easing planning restrictions in the Burren was "very unwise": "The Burren is a unique resource that needs very careful management to accommodate its existing residents and users and the proposed changes would be contrary to Green Tourism strategies advocated by Shannon Development and the Department of Arts and Heritage for the Burren since the 1990s."

The council has also proposed to delete a number of references from its Vision for Clare in the revised plan.

In response, An Taisce warned: "The character of the county is of great importance and to delete references to it as proposed would not be helpful to the county in seeking additional resources from Government in the future."