Group to oppose reversal of planning decisions

Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) are seeking a change in the planning laws to ensure that rulings by An Bord Pleanala rejecting developments in inappropriate locations cannot be reversed by local authorities without reference back to the appeals board.

The environmental group called for this change in a letter to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, citing three recent decisions in Co Cork which it had been "forced to appeal" to ensure that previous rulings by An Bord Pleanala were sustained.

A spokesman for FIE said two of these cases involved the protection of listed archaeological monuments in designated scenic areas and the third contains an upland raised bog, which is a priority habitat under the European Union's Habitats Directive.

At Myross Churchyard, near Leap, permission was again granted by Cork County Council last January for the erection of an RTE television mast directly beside the walled churchyard less than a year after the planning board had overturned a previous decision. The proposed mast, designed to provide television service in an area where the two RTE channels are unobtainable, has strong support from the local community and its public representatives. But it is opposed by FIE on environmental grounds.

The group cited the county council's decision to approve plans for a private house in Ardee, Union Hall, just two years after the board had refused permission on the grounds of inappropriate location because the site is in a scenic area on the seaward side of the coast road. FIE also noted that the site contains a holy well, still a traditional place of worship on St Brigid's Day. No conditions were laid down by the council to safeguard the well or ensure continued public access to it.

In an appeal against the council's most recent decision, FIE maintain that the Ardee proposal had been refused or withdrawn "no less than eight times" and the latest scheme had been opposed on policy grounds by the planners who dealt with the case.

The third example cited in FIE's letter to the Minister relates to a quarry above Durrus, Co Cork, first refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanala in 1993. Granted again by the county council, it was refused once more by the appeals board last August.

Permission was granted for the third time by the local authority earlier this month, despite FIE's contention that the site contains one of Ireland's most southerly examples of an upland raised bog, a priority habitat listed by the EU as being in danger of destruction.

"These three developments in one small part of Ireland during the course of this last year have been permitted by the local authority, in spite of the fact that they are virtually identical to those refused by An Bord Pleanala because of their inappropriate location."

FIE, established to monitor the implementation of European environmental law in Ireland, said major reforms in the Planning Acts, now under consideration, should prevent a local authority considering such plans without referring the matter to the appeals board.