Sir, - It comes as no real surprise that An Bord Pleanβla has approved the controversial housing scheme at Laraghcon, west Dublin, against the advice of the planning inspector who dealt with the case (The Irish Times, August 30th). After all, this happened before, when in 1993 the then Dublin County Council rezoned this land for residential development against the advice of the county's planners.
It does, however, raise the question why fully qualified planners are employed in the first place if their advice is going to be consistently ignored.
There is little doubt that recent years have seen an increasing lack of confidence in the planning process in Ireland. This case has not helped.
The decision is not only an insult to the professionalism of Irish planners generally, but raises many questions about the rules governing An Bord Pleanβla's decision-making process. - Yours, etc.,
Terence Reeves-Smith, Gleno Village, Co Antrim.