Councillors' planning decisions 'catastrophic'

DEPUTY LEADER of the Green Party Mary White has severely criticised local councillors for a history of “catastrophic” planning decisions.

The TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, and a former member of Carlow County Council, criticised councillors in the county who had “helped fuel the boom and bust”.

She claimed that “a careful look at the voting record of Carlow County Council will show councillors from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour consistently voted for unnecessary re-zonings” including re-zoning land “on a flood plain”.

Ms White added they “have clearly learned nothing from their mistakes” and were continuing to attempt to create new urban sprawl and unsustainable housing development.

She said the Green Party was determined to “prevent the kind of mishmash, madcap planning” which she believes has blighted the country “for years” and resulted in “more than 300,000 empty houses in Ireland – many in Carlow”.

Ms White was “dismayed” at the criticism by councillors of her party leader Minister for the Environment John Gormley.

Her remarks followed publication of comments by councillors published in the Carlow Nationalist newspaper. The paper reported that Opposition party councillors last week complained that Mr Gormley’s draft new regional planning guidelines were “anti-rural” and would prevent any new houses being built in the county for six years.

Fine Gael Cllr Pat Deering accused Mr Gormley of “trying to control the population”.

His Fine Gael colleague Cllr Michael Abbey said: “Fianna Fáil needs to have a word in the ear of the Greens before they destroy rural Ireland.” The Tullow-based Fine Gael Cllr Pat O’Toole said “Minister Gormley should be put up on a pile and burnt.”

Labour Cllr William Paton claimed that the proposals would “drive up house prices and create another property bubble that may suit the friends of Fianna Fáil”.

But Ms White said that despite a surfeit of empty houses in Co Carlow, councillors were continuing to try to rezone more land and “attempting to make more catastrophic decisions”.