Madam, – Tom Sheahan TD complains about the planning system (Dáil Report, March 26th), and I wonder why he and his fellow TDs have not realised that poor planning over the last years has led us into Nama-land and its associated costs? Instead of making vague connections and alignments, I would ask Mr Sheahan to join us in our work to defend the common good of the country rather than the small minority who have bankrupted us over the past few years.
A country’s planning system requires a method of appeal and this is provided by An Bord Pleanála. An Taisce takes a relatively small number of appeals each year and wins most of them because we normally show that an application is in contravention of a county development plan. I would remind county councillors that a county development plan is a “contract” between the people and the council, it is voted by the councillors and that it should not be contravened.
I would also explain to Mr Sheahan that the reason there are “serial objectors” is because there are “serial applicants”, who reapply despite being refused on the grounds that the application would contravene the county development plan. Some seem to think that they should keep applying until they get what they think they deserve. I do not know how much it costs the county council and An Bord Pleanála to process these “serial applicants”, but the cost of the second or third application should be considerably more than the first.
An Taisce is a charity with membership open to all and we would ask people to join our membership to help us preserve the environment of the country and to ensure that the planning system works for the common good and does not get hijacked again to the advantage of a select few. – Yours, etc,