Minister takes issue with Clare County Council over zoning for housing

The Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell, has taken issue with Clare County Council over what he deemed excessive zoning of lands for housing in its county development plan.

The council adopted the plan for 2023 to 2029 at a special meeting last month after a public consultation that commenced in September 2020.

Mr O’Donnell has intervened to issue a draft direction contending that the development plan does not comply with the requirements of the Planning and Development Act.

The direction said that the adopted development plan “includes material amendments to the draft development plan which zone additional residential lands in excess of what is required for Co Clare as set out in the core strategy”.

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The ministerial direction added that these zoning objectives and amendments were located in peripheral and/or non-sequential locations “and would encourage a pattern of development in particular locations which is inconsistent with national and regional policy objectives promoting compact forms of development”.

The direction said that the additional lands zoned included lands that are not serviced or serviceable within the plan period.

The plan is inconsistent with the requirement to implement a tiered approach to zoning and inconsistent with national policy to promote proportionate growth of settlements, the direction said.

The public notice also pointed out that the development plan had zoned land for use within flood risk zones that were vulnerable or highly vulnerable to flooding.

The direction also said that the development plan provided for exceptional circumstances for access onto national roads “which are not consistent with the national planning framework (NPF) for enhanced regional accessibility”.

Mr O’Donnell was of the opinion that the development plan failed to set out an overall strategy for the area, the direction said.

* This story was edited to reflect the fact that it was the Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell, who had taken issue with Clare County Council.