Planning applications were down over a third in the Claremorris electoral area for the three month period of January to March 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. Senior planner for Mayo County Council John McMyler gave the elected members the number on foot of a request at the previous month’s meetings. He informed the members: “In the first three months of 2008 there were 500 planning applications on file in this area, and this year for the same period there are 314 applications, that’s a drop of around 37 per cent.”
Design standards of housing questioned
Cllr Pat McHugh posed a question to Mr McMyler about the flexibility of the planning guidelines in relation to modern designs for houses and the likelihood that they would get approval. Cllr McHugh asked: “Could we be advised to the current standing in relation to house design, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of creative house designs coming on stream, is that because our planning guidelines are stopping the architects being creative?” Mr McMyler told him that modern designs will be considered like any standard or traditional design.
