Lands at Knock Shrine will be subject to new residential tax
Saint Jarlath's Diocesan Trust argued that the lands offered potential for further upgrades to Knock Shrine campus.
A Catholic Church body is facing a tax bill for lands near Knock Shrine after its appeal over the inclusion of the lands on a new tax map was only partly successful.
Saint Jarlath’s Diocesan Trust appealed a decision to An Bord Pleanála regarding Mayo County Council’s decision to include three parcels of land in Knock in the new Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) maps. However, An Bord Pleanála only partly ruled in favour of the appeal.
The RZLT is a tax aimed at activating serviced and residentially zoned land for housing and was introduced by the Government to incentivise landowners who own the identified lands to engage in the development of residential properties or to activate existing planning permissions.
The appeal focused on three parcels of land in Knock including lands east of Knock National School at Carrowmore Townland, lands at Churchfield Townland located near the southern entrance of Knock Shrine and lands at Drum Townland located near the northern entrance of the Shrine campus.
Mayo County Council determined the three sites meet the criteria for RZLT and this decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
The basis of Saint Jarlath’s appeal was the lands at Carrowmore comprise the only grassed play area available to Knock National School, the lands at Churchfield are required for the development of the southern entrance to the Shrine and the lands at Drum have a long, established use of over 40 years as part of the northern entrance to the grounds of the Shrine.
Furthermore, the trust said the inclusion of Shrine lands on the map is not appropriate and that the lands at the southern and northern entrances offer the potential for future upgrades to the Knock Shrine campus. It said potential residential developments would impact on the Basilica, which is one of Ireland's most popular tourist attractions.
An Bord Pleanála acknowledged the ongoing use of the lands by Knock National School and the wider Knock community and directed the site be removed from the RZLT map.
However, the planning appeals board confirmed the other two sites would be included on the RZLT map on the basis that no reason could be identified to prevent the development of these lands for housing.
The inspector said all three land parcels adjoin public roads and therefore could reasonably be connected to the public facilities and services required for a residential development.
Furthermore, the inspector disagreed that the lands at the north and south entrances were an integral part of the Shrine campus and deemed them to be "vacant or idle" and therefore could not be excluded from RZLT on this basis.
The first payment of RZLT is due on February 1 next year and landowners liable to pay will be charged an annual rate of 3% of the value of the land included on the RZLT map.
