There was disagreement among the elected members of the Belmullet electoral area committee and the planning section of Mayo County Council this week over the need for planning permission for a development in the area. The disagreement surrounded the application of John and Martina Cafferkey to retain an animal shelter, hardstanding, and an access road at Shragraddy, Bangor Erris, Ballina, Co Mayo.
Senior planner for Mayo County Council John McMyler told the meeting that there were four reasons for the refusal, but the main reason was to do with the access road onto the N59. He told the members that under the county development plan, you cannot have an access onto a national primary road.
However, all the councillors present were adamant that there was always an access onto the N59 from these lands going back a number of years and it was not a new access road. Sinn Féin councillor Rose Conway-Walsh read a letter to the meeting from the former owner of the lands which stated that the access road had existed for generations. Independent councillor Michael Holmes also informed the meeting that 30 years ago he had been involved in the dividing up of commonage lands in the area and that the access road in question was the only road into the commonage at the time and was always there. Fine Gael councillor Gerry Coyle told the meeting the only reason that the applicants applied for permission was that a ranger from the National Parks and Wildlife Service had called to the current owners and told them that they must. Cllr Holmes added that the only mistake the applicants made was in applying for planning permission and if they legally challenged any decision to refuse it they would win it.
Mr McMyler told the members that once the application had been made it had to be dealt with under the development plan and that if the development qualified under the rural exemption clause they should have applied for it. He went on to say that the decision was not due to be made until March and that the applicants should make submissions on the issues raised so they can be put on the file and it examined again.
