Westmeath County Council is to prepare a log of refused rural planning applications for the examination of councillors, after concern was expressed at the proportion of requests for further information and applications being turned down.
Athlone councillor Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran raised the matter at Monday’s meeting of Westmeath County Council, saying that several people who had applied for permission in high amenity areas, and complied with all planning regulations, had nonetheless had their applications turned down.
“Between the application and all the advertising, people can spend up to €7,000 or €8,000 and then they are refused.
I thought that once they lived in a high amenity area all their life they should qualify, but people are complying with all regulations, appealing to An Bord Pleanala, and then being turned down,” he said.
He added that in many areas, one-off dwellings are the only source of employment for builders, with every building project employing “four to six men for 14 to 16 months”.
Adding to Cllr Moran’s disquiet with the planning process was Fore’s Cllr Frank McDermott, who advised that the statistics on rejected proposals needed to be looked at.
However, he drew criticism from county manager Dan McLoughlin by suggesting that council staff may be delaying applications in order to ensure their jobs were safe.
“Some of the reasons for requesting further information are appalling. If we look at some of the statistics on rejected proposals and the amount of paperwork applicants are asked to submit, it is as though the staff are looking for work to prolong their own employment,” ventured Cllr McDermott.
Mr McLoughlin quickly rejected the implication, however, saying, “I am disappointed to hear Cllr McDermott suggest that we are trying to prolong agony for people. I totally reject that. For the most part hold-ups are down to poor applications, and requesting further information allows people to fully state their position.
“I would suggest that we map all refusals over 12 months and graph the reasons, so we can see if they are consistent or inconsistent, and if councillors feel there are unnecessary requests for further information we can log this also. When I get this information I will bring it back before councillors.”
