Councillors want 'blanket ban' on new houses lifted

Councillors in Clare have called on the local authority to lift what is in effect a blanket ban on housing in large parts of the county.

The new county manager, Mr Alec Fleming, has been warned by councillors at their monthly meeting he must address the issue of the high number of planning refusals for once-off houses in rural areas in Clare.

After hearing that two out of every three planning applications refused in the county last year were for once-off houses in the countryside, Cllr P.J. Kelly said the council "blitz" on almost 300 families could not be repeated.

Through the adoption of the 1999 County Development Plan, large areas of the county were designated "visually vulnerable", and yesterday the council was told that, of the people refused planning for once-off housing, 29 per cent were refused permission for single houses due to being in such areas, while 13 per cent were refused because they were "outsiders".

Cllr Kelly said implementation of the plan had echoes of the Penal Laws.

"The new county manager must address the situation quickly or he will have a short honeymoon. I'm sorry he has to walk into this storm, but it is not going to go away," he said.

"I can't accept that if a person is born within a 'visually vulnerable' area, he or she should be punished from being refused planning permission to build a home." Flexibility was a "non-word" in the council's planning department.

Cllr Kelly received support from all political sides in the chamber.

Mr Joe Arkins (Fine Gael) said the council could not impose a blanket ban on building houses within large areas of the county.

"I am not advocating that important views of lakes and seas be blocked, but the council needs to have a realistic examination of the 'visually vulnerable' designation," he said.

Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) said the council should allow people to live in their own environment to protect their heritage, but admitted that councillors were architects of their own demise on the issue by voting for the 1999 plan.

Cllr Tom Burke (FF) said parts of Clare had lost 50 per cent of their population, and councillors should assist people to live on the land.

However, the head of planning, Mr Ger Dollard, pointed out that the refusal rate of 13.7 per cent for planning applications in Clare was below the national average. He said the "visually vulnerable" designation was necessary to protect the landscape, adding that a new development plan for the west Clare area would examine the issue in finer detail.