Growth of Mayo urban areas should not inhibited
New plan deemed "surprisingly favourable" to rural Ireland. Photo: iStock.
Support for new rural housing must form part of Mayo’s submission to the National Planning Framework Project it has been argued.
Cllr Jarlath Munnelly made the comments during a discussion on Mayo County Council’s submission to the project at a meeting of the local authority.
“The building of new houses in rual areas has to be supported,” said Cllr Munnelly.
He urged Mayo County Council’s submission into include a statement along those lines in “blunt terms.” Cllr Munnelly said there should be population limits in urban areas in the county included in the draft plan.
Cllr Mark Duffy agreed. “We should not be putting a ceiling on our growth ambitions.” Cllr Munnelly also expressed concern about large-scale wind energy projects in scenic locations.
“Wind projects need to be facilitated but only where the landscape supports them,” Cllr Munnelly commented.
Cllr Mark Duffy said the plan deserved a fuller discussion and shouldn’t be “slipped through” without debate.
Cllr Al McDonnell was part of a steering committee who contributed to the plan contended that councillors had plenty of scope to contribute to the draft plan had they chosen to do so.
He said the draft plan in its original format was ‘surprisingly favourable’ to rural Ireland. “But the changes we made were significant also,” Cllr McDonnell added.
The purpose of the National Planning Framework Project Ireland 2040 (NPF) is to provide clear vision to guide future development of the country up to 2040 The Draft Revised NPF recognises that the Northern and Western region requires particular focus and attention given the challenges it faces
The underinvestment and infrastructural deficits that exist in the West must be recognised and failing to address this situation will serve only to reinforce the prevailing imbalance between regions, it states
Noting the recently published Regional Infrastructural Tracker by the NWRA, Mayo County Council said it supports the NWRA which recommends the pursuit of a ‘positive discrimination approach’ for the North and West Region.
