The Lough Allen Conservation Association is to organise a public debate on the ongoing controversy over planning in the Dowra area on the Leitrim/Cavan border.
In response to recent public meetings in which An Taisce and others were criticised for objecting to some developments in the area, the secretary of the conservation association said he believes it is important to have "a public debate rather than a whispering campaign behind the scenes".
Mr Sean Wynne said he believed the core issue was that the Leitrim County Development Plan was weak and was "almost impossible to implement by council officials".
The theme of the debate, to be held in Drumshanbo on May 15th, is "Has the Leitrim County Development Plan failed to deliver to the Lough Allen basin?"
Mr Wynne said his association had been calling on the county council to produce "a proper, strategic development plan" for the area for many years, but this had never happened.
He said that if the ground rules were clearer, there would not be as much need for people to appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
The Lough Allen Conservation Association, he said, has been in existence since the mid-1980s and was comprised mainly of fishermen and people concerned with the preservation of the lake.
It has expressed concerns to An Bord Pleanála in relation to a plan, approved by Leitrim County Council, for houses and a canal to allow cruiser traffic access to the development, which is on the north-eastern shore of the lake. Mr Wynne said he believed this scheme would damage fish life.
He said it was also a matter of concern that planning applications, turned down by council planners, could subsequently be approved by a county manager.
The conservation association, which has recently joined An Taisce, supported the development of Lough Allen "in a coherent approach supported by a strong county development plan".