Council meetings 'a frenzy of pressure'

Landowners, builders, agents and auctioneers applied "a frenzy of external pressure" on rezoning decisions at Dublin County Council meetings in the early 1990s, the tribunal heard yesterday

This pressure and the rezonings voted through by councillors, resulted in "bad planning" and a series of "illogical and unjustified" planning decisions, Mr Enda Conway, the senior planner charged with preparing the 1993 draft development plan for the county, told the tribunal.

Mr Conway, now retired, described the review process as an "unpleasant and disappointing experience" for planners.

He pointed out that enormous amounts of manpower and resources had been put into the review of the plan. There were two statutory displays and one mobile one, involving considerable overtime.

Some 24,000 representations had been received after the first display and 487 oral hearings were organised. Other departments made a substantial contribution to the overall effort.

Yet despite all these efforts, on numerous occasions the detailed reports prepared by staff were "set aside" and significant rezoning decisions were proceeded with.

Before and during the meetings of the council at headquarters on O'Connell Street, the entrance lobby was crowded with landowners, builders, agents, auctioneers and lobbyists seeking out councillors in a frenzy of external pressure, Mr Conway said.

It was an "acrimonious atmosphere" involving "marshalling" by party whips which was "alien" to reasonable behaviour.

Mr Conway's description of the scenes in the council chamber tallies with contemporary accounts by journalists who covered meetings of the council at this time.

He said the process involved a landowner who wanted land rezoned approaching a councillor and the councillor then sponsoring a motion. Generally, the manager, acting on professional advice, would recommend against the proposal and the public would oppose it too.

Despite this, the councillors would insist on pressing the proposals, resulting in "bad planning decisions" and "unnecessary cost" to the community for the sole benefit of the landowner.

"Why should elected county councillors go against all professional advice to achieve financial gain for a single interest?" he asked.

Mr Conway said his observations related to planning decisions throughout the county and not just in the Carrickmines area. However, he described a 1992 motion to rezone Paisley Park's lands in Carrickmines as "haphazard development".

Mr Pat Quinn SC, for the tribunal, asked him about the 1990 draft development plan, which envisaged the rezoning of large amounts of land in the Carrickmines Valley for industrial use.

An accompanying report presented by the county manager, Mr Kevin O'Sullivan, to a meeting in October 1990, referred to a "serious shortage of service industrial land" in the area.

Mr Quinn pointed out that there was no reference in the working papers to a shortage of industrial zoned land. In 1983, there were 118 hectares of undeveloped industrial land in Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown and the annual take-up was 12 hectares a year. Mr Conway agreed there was sufficient industrial land "globally" in the region.

Mr Quinn said it was not only globally available. The working papers said there was "an adequate supply strategically distributed throughout the county".

Mr Conway agreed with counsel that Mr O'Sullivan's report was inaccurate in this respect. He could not recall who was involved in preparing the report for the manager.

The 1990 proposal to rezone lands at Carrickmines, which was later dropped, has been cited by a number of councillors as one of the main reasons they supported subsequent rezoning motions that came before the council.

The tribunal has adjourned until Tuesday.