In a discussion on the take over of estates and the local property tax at this week’s Ballina Town Council meeting, Fianna Fáil councillor Johnny O’Malley hit out at the self regulation of planning that he feels has contributed to the number of unfinished estates in the country.
Cllr O’Malley hit out at engineers and legal professionals who signed off on transactions saying they were complete so that people could get mortgages from banks when they were not. “The self regulation of planning has failed, a legal person had to sign off as did a qualified engineer. So they were in breach of their duties, I’m sorry to say.”
Town manager, Paul Benson replied, “The 1990 building control legislation called for a solicitor and engineer to sign saying everything complied with planning permission. It was buyer beware. If people were buying off plans before they [homes] were built how could they be?”
