I return, without apology, to the issue of Ballymore Eustace, which by a single stroke of a single Kildare council official's pen, has been reassigned from the status of a village to that of a dormitory suburb. The matter is not just one of the village itself, but of just how such decisions come to be made, and what influence local feeling or even the broader workings of democracy have on them.
Ballymore Eustace, which was declared a "special village" in 1977, was the subject of a development plan which stated: "The emphasis in this plan is on retaining the character of the village while at the same time restricting development and maintaining a clear division between the town and the countryside . . . The principal function of the village is to act as a local service centre."
All set at naught
Good. Thus the official view for Ballymore - all set at naught by the decision to grant planning permission to Abbeydrive Homes for a single development of over 400 houses on a plot of land to the south of the village, zoned for development in the late 1980s. So how did this come about? Did county officials declare that the application to create a huge suburb alongside it, thereby maybe trebling its population, made engineering and planning sense? Did local businesses campaign for rapid population growth? Did the community itself find itself excited at the prospect of being outnumbered by commuter-newcomers?
Quite the reverse. The senior executive planner for Co Kildare, Michael Kenny, a man of the highest reputation who has policed planning applications with a punctilious rigour, found the proposals from Abbeydrive Homes unsatisfactory on three fronts: one, the impact upon Ballymore itself of such an influx of outsiders; two, road traffic and pedestrian issues; three, sewage treatment. His official response, far from approving the development, demanded that these issues be addressed by the developer before any planning permission could be contemplated. The chief engineer Chris Marshall, was even more emphatic. He wrote: "This is completely impractical and unacceptable. Unless an extension of time can be had, I recommend refusal on both water and sewage fronts." The Eastern Regional Fisheries Board, involved because of the proximity of the site to the Liffey, opposed development without the construction of a sewage treatment plant.
Residents' objection
In Ballymore itself, there was uproar when Abbeydrive's original plans for over 500 houses became known last year. Five hundred residents - effectively the entire adult population - formally objected. Feelings could not have been more unanimous as people realised the consequences of several hundred cars trying to pass through the tiny village square each morning, of having a couple of hundred additional children competing for places in the local school, of having a huge additional burden placed on water and sewerage systems, of having a huge and wholly unnatural city suburb attached to the southern edge of an ancient village.
Apparently in recognition of the strength of feeling on this issue, the county manager, Niall Bradley, told a local councillor, J.J. Dardis, that he would notify all objectors of any change in the initial planning application. But Abbeydrive now made a fresh application, this time for 416 houses, which meant that the objections to the original application ceased to be valid. Objectors to the development insist they were not notified. And on the very same day that Michael Kenny returned the second Abbeydrive application, effectively recommending rejection until many serious technical problems had been addressed by the developer, he was over-ruled by the deputy county manager, Terry O Niadh, and planning permission was given.
It is hardly any wonder that the county engineer, Chris Marshall, indignantly scribbled on the bottom of the Abbeydrive application: "Why send us the file if our reports are going to be ignored?" Of course, he was not alone in being ignored. His colleague, Michael Kenny, was ignored. Emmet Stagg, TD, who has vehemently condemned the proposals, was ignored. Alan Dukes, TD, who has been equally critical, was ignored. So were all the councillors who have spoken on this topic. So was Ballymore Community Development. So was the entire population of the village.
One man's power
What does this amount to? It amounts to this: one unelected man in Kildare County Council has power to over-rule all the technical advice he received from his paid officials, to ignore the overwhelming wishes of a community and its elected representatives, and to authorise a development that will simply transform that community from being a village into being a dormitory suburb.
Of course, it does not stop there. Sixteen Kildare councillors, as well as virtually the entire population of the village, have put their names to objections to An Bord Pleanala. But already there is an ominous ring to the entire affair; for we have been here before, to that place where the virtually unanimously expressed interests and wishes of a blameless village community can be disregarded, as other interests with other priorities prove victorious. Will it be so this time? Not, of course, if the people of Ballymore are heard. But the other question remains: who is listening to them?