A directive by former minister for the environment and local government John Gormley after he varied the Mayo County Development plan was the cause of major disbelief for members of the Ballina Electoral Area this week. The members were being informed of a number of planning permission refusals by senior planner for Mayo County Council, John McMyler, who told them about the refusal of an application for planning permission for a house at Broadlands, Knockafarson, Ballina. Mr McMyler told the meeting the applicant had applied to demolish an existing dwelling house and construct a new house on the same site.
However the council had to refuse the permission because, under the variation ordered by the former minister in the County Development Plan, the site of the application site was on a restricted regional road where no development could take place as the speed limit on the road was over 60km per hour.
This revelation caused much anger and shock among the members. “I could understand it, if it was a new development, but this is just replacing an existing house with a new one. Can common sense not be applied?” said chairperson of the committee Cllr Jarlath Munnelly.
Cllr Gerry Ginty asked: “How can one house replacing another be stopped, how was this ever passed into law?” Cllr Eddie Staunton told the meeting: “A woman wants to knock her own house she lives in and build a new house for herself and her family to live in. Three generations of her family have lived there and it’s being refused, this is totally unacceptable.”
Mr McMyler told the members that his hands were tied as it was in the new plan as varied by Mr Gormley and he had no leeway on the issue. Cllr Munnelly informed the meeting that the restriction under the plan originally adopted by the council had exemptions for this type of development and for legitimate family needs, but former minister Gormley had varied the plan and removed the exemptions.
