Councillors bemoan lack of power while 'county stands still'

A local councillor has claimed that demographic and planning figures over the last half century show that Mayo is “standing still and not making progress".

Claremorris-based Independent Cllr Richard Finn told last week's council meeting that planning applications in Mayo currently stand at a similar level to 50 years ago - at around 800 per year - while projections indicate that the county has the lowest population growth of any local authority area in Ireland.

Quoting a figure of 2% projected population growth for Mayo in the coming years, Cllr Finn told management: “We are just standing still and that is why I call this a level of managed decline. We have the highest average age of 41 and 20% of the population is over 65.

“We need to loosen up our planning system and laws to get people living in this county. Economic development is being slowly stifled and we have a planning famine. In rural Ireland, people who want to live there should be allowed to do so in order that we can keep our schools and pubs and shops open.

“We are living in what I would call obedient apathy, taking rules and regulations obediently and not fighting our cause at all. So there isn’t a lot coming west because it is all going to the rest.” 

Crossmolina-based Cllr Michael Loftus agreed, saying: “I am to attend a meeting in Ballycastle tonight about a Coillte proposal beside a football field and I have to tell them we have no power, even to object. The community are going to be left devastated with what goes on down there and no doubt I will get devoured at the meeting because I can do nothing to help them. We seem to be losing power to make decisions in regard to our county. We should have the ability to make some submissions when it comes to serious planning or something like this.” 

Castlebar-based Cllr Harry Barrett said the Community Benefit Fund that wind energy developers pay into should be distributed throughout the county, so that worthy services such as Meals and Wheels in Castlebar would benefit.

“We must ensure Mayo people benefit from the energy generated in this county and offshore in order to look after our elderly and needy.” 

Cllr Loftus said the Community Benefit Fund had been replaced by the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme 2 which ordained that the fund can only be used in the assigned area, “so the Department is dictating to us where community benefit money can be spent". He added that he expected “500 wind farms to be coming to North Mayo in the next number of years” and posed the question: “Why not have a central fund to benefit great big projects there for a lifetime.” 

Council chief executive Kevin Kelly told members that “the community benefit piece is established by the energy regulator” and recommended that perhaps an strategic policy committee in the council could look into the matter.