Council 'must show common sense' on rural housing

A heated 75-minute discussion on rural planning dominated the October monthly meeting of the Westport-Belmullet Municipal District.

The discussion came up after Cllr Paul McNamara highlighted the case of a couple in Mulranny who are facing a third planning application for a home. Cllr McNamara said the couple have already forked out €25,300 for the applications having been turned down on the first occasion because they were in a Special Area of Conservation and moved. They were then told "at the last minute" to withdraw their second application because it was going to be refused.

“This is a young couple in Mulranny trying to build in their home place but every designation and regulation is stopping them. They are so frustrated by it that they may not apply the third time.

"If we don’t relax the planning laws in rural areas, there will be no one-off houses. If common sense doesn’t prevail with one-off housing, we’ll have a serious problem in the coming years with no young people in these areas."

Cllr Chris Maxwell praised Cllr McNamara’s input as "the most sensible statement on planning I’ve heard in a long time". He said his daughter and her boyfriend have applied for planning after returning from Australia, adding: "We need young people and we need to house them."

Cllr Gerry Coyle said he doubts his home, close to the sea in Geesala, would get permission now.

“Who is more entitled to the view in Mulranny? Is it the people who come for one week of the year or the people who will live there for 365 days of the year? There should be no comparison,” he said, adding that it is often very hard for returning emigrants to get planning.

“I was involved with the Home to Mayo events in the USA but I didn’t read the fine print. It must be ‘come home to Mayo but don’t stay’.” 

Cllr John O’Malley cited a council refusal for a home in Carrowholly that was subsequently overturned by An Coimisiún Pleánala. He claimed some planners are "Green [Party] sympathisers" and that "we’d want to know who we are letting in to be [council] planners", adding some planners "won’t listen to logic".

Head of the municipal district Séamus Ó Mongáin said there is generally only a refusal rate of 5% and cited September’s figures for the district where there were 37 decisions - 21 were granted, 14 sought further information and two were refused. However, Cllr McNamara said these figures do not include the many applications that are withdrawn, often on advice that it is about to be refused.

Mr Ó Mongáin added that planning decisions are made on the basis of the County Development Plan and local area plans, all of which are voted for by councillors.

Cllr McNamara retorted: “We did not vote to refuse planning permission in rural areas.” 

Mr Ó Mongáin replied that the council is "pro-development", adding: “It is also because of these development plans than 21 applications got planning permission.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.