Monaghan County Council is being directed by Minister for the Environment John Gormley to rescind land rezoning decisions taken by councillors against planning advice when they adopted the county development plan last March.
Using his powers under Section 31 of the 2000 Planning Act, the Minister has issued a formal direction instructing the council to amend its development plan "in the interests of ensuring the future sustainable development of the county".
He concluded that the Monaghan County Development Plan 2007-2013, as adopted, "does not support the objectives of the National Spatial Strategy, the Regional Planning Guidelines for the Border Region or the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines".
Accordingly, Mr Gormley had decided to act within the rarely used powers conferred on him under the 2000 Planning Act "to protect the national interest and ensure proper planning and sustainable development" by issuing his direction.
It requires the council to rescind rezonings in 29 villages by reverting to the zonings set out in the draft development plan drawn up by the county planners in March 2006, and to make the necessary amendments to the Co Monaghan housing strategy.
The council must comply with this direction by the council by amending its development plan as instructed. The 2000 Act states that, in exercising their powers, the county manager and councillors cannot do so in conflict with the terms of the direction.
"Councils have a duty and obligation, when making development plans, to ensure that the greater common good will prevail from their decisions and that the future development of their areas is based on sound planning principles," the Minister said.
His action follows the rejection of submissions by his department raising serious concerns about the level of zoned land proposed in the plan - enough to cater for a 182 per cent increase in Co Monaghan's population over its six-year term.
In a letter to the council, Mr Gormley said the rationale for this level of population increase, which would be equivalent to the projected population growth for the entire Border region in the period from now until 2020, "cannot be substantiated".
He pointed out that this was not consistent with his department's development plan guidelines, which state that the level of zoned land should be based on an objective assessment of future development and population increase.
"The practice of zoning for residential development in a sporadic and haphazard fashion in random greenfield sites, which extend outwards from villages and do not have the necessary services . . . does not conform with proper planning principles and is not sustainable."
Although the council had omitted proposed rezonings in areas prone to flooding, such as Ballybay, it upheld numerous others. The leading opponent was Cllr Vincent P Martin, then an independent, who ran as a Green Party candidate in last May's general election.
The Minister also expressed his dissatisfaction with the council's rejection of the department's advice to use the distinction between Clár and non-Clár areas as a basis for distinguishing between weaker rural areas and others under strong urban influence.
"This omission runs counter to the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines, which recommend that a more selective approach to the granting of one-off planning permissions should be applied to rural areas under strong urban pressure," he said.
A balance needed to be struck "between facilitating rural communities to meet their own internal housing requirements by allowing a certain number of new dwellings and avoiding large-scale and widespread suburbanisation of the countryside", Mr Gormley added.
The council has also been told to adopt "appropriate planning policies" to areas surrounding Monaghan town, Carrickmacross and Castleblayney which are under urban pressure.
Clár is an investment programme for rural areas in 18 counties which suffered the greatest population decline from 1926 to 2002.
Frank McDonald
© 2007 The Irish Times
Showing posts with label monaghon county council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monaghon county council. Show all posts
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Monday, 23 July 2007
Gormley orders council to redraw development plan
ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley yesterday intervened in the controversial Monaghan County Development Plan ordering councillors to go back to the drawing board.
He issued a formal direction instructing the county council to vary the plan in the interests of future sustainable development in the county.
He made the intervention following concerns about the extraordinary levels of zoned land proposed in the plan, which was adopted on March 20 this year. It had provided for an astounding increase of population in the county over the next six years, approving planning for an additional 102,000 people.
That was an increase of 182% on the total population of 58,000 currently living in the county.
The Green Party leader said that the rationale for such an increase in zoning could not be substantiated. It would have meant that some villages in the county might have seen their population increase four-fold or five-fold.
“The practice of zoning for residential development in a sporadic and haphazard fashion in random green-field sites, which extend outwards from villages and do not have the necessary services to support the proposed development, does not conform with proper planning principles and such development is not sustainable,” said Mr Gormley.
He also said he was dissatisfied with the council’s rejection of the department’s advice to use the distinction between Clár and non-Clár areas as a basis for distinguishing between weaker rural areas and rural areas under strong urban influence. He instanced those areas close to the main towns of Monaghan, Carrickmacross and Castleblayney and along the N2 National Primary Route .
“Councils have a duty and obligation, when making development plans,” said the minister, “to ensure that the greater common good will prevail from their decisions and the future development of their areas is based on sound planning principles”.
Irish Examiner
He issued a formal direction instructing the county council to vary the plan in the interests of future sustainable development in the county.
He made the intervention following concerns about the extraordinary levels of zoned land proposed in the plan, which was adopted on March 20 this year. It had provided for an astounding increase of population in the county over the next six years, approving planning for an additional 102,000 people.
That was an increase of 182% on the total population of 58,000 currently living in the county.
The Green Party leader said that the rationale for such an increase in zoning could not be substantiated. It would have meant that some villages in the county might have seen their population increase four-fold or five-fold.
“The practice of zoning for residential development in a sporadic and haphazard fashion in random green-field sites, which extend outwards from villages and do not have the necessary services to support the proposed development, does not conform with proper planning principles and such development is not sustainable,” said Mr Gormley.
He also said he was dissatisfied with the council’s rejection of the department’s advice to use the distinction between Clár and non-Clár areas as a basis for distinguishing between weaker rural areas and rural areas under strong urban influence. He instanced those areas close to the main towns of Monaghan, Carrickmacross and Castleblayney and along the N2 National Primary Route .
“Councils have a duty and obligation, when making development plans,” said the minister, “to ensure that the greater common good will prevail from their decisions and the future development of their areas is based on sound planning principles”.
Irish Examiner
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Plan to restore earl's lake temple
A Co Monaghan group is to restore the James Wyatt-designed Lady Dawson temple near the Monaghan/Cavan border.
Dating from the late 1700s, the temple is set on a wooded island in a lake on the former estate of the Dawson family, Earls of Dartrey. It was built by Thomas Dawson MP to house an elaborate monument to the memory of his wife, Anne, who died at the age of 36 in 1769.
Noel Carney of the Dartrey Heritage Association said the MP had the temple built so he could see it as he worked in his first-floor office in the house across the lake.
Modelled on the pantheon in Rome, the red-brick and limestone temple was a grandiose project, even for the landlord classes. Its Carrera marble sculptures are by Joseph Wilton.
Romantic as the gesture seems, it appears the MP was able to recover from his loss as he married for a second time a year later. History does not record what his second wife thought of the temple.
Over the years the monument has been vandalised and the temple in which it is set has fallen into decay. Mr Carney said the cost of restoration was estimated at about €750,000, a figure he said could be reduced to €500,000 through voluntary work.
Funding is being provided by Monaghan and Cavan county councils and a grants scheme from the Department of the Environment.
Tim O'Brien
© 2007 The Irish Times
Dating from the late 1700s, the temple is set on a wooded island in a lake on the former estate of the Dawson family, Earls of Dartrey. It was built by Thomas Dawson MP to house an elaborate monument to the memory of his wife, Anne, who died at the age of 36 in 1769.
Noel Carney of the Dartrey Heritage Association said the MP had the temple built so he could see it as he worked in his first-floor office in the house across the lake.
Modelled on the pantheon in Rome, the red-brick and limestone temple was a grandiose project, even for the landlord classes. Its Carrera marble sculptures are by Joseph Wilton.
Romantic as the gesture seems, it appears the MP was able to recover from his loss as he married for a second time a year later. History does not record what his second wife thought of the temple.
Over the years the monument has been vandalised and the temple in which it is set has fallen into decay. Mr Carney said the cost of restoration was estimated at about €750,000, a figure he said could be reduced to €500,000 through voluntary work.
Funding is being provided by Monaghan and Cavan county councils and a grants scheme from the Department of the Environment.
Tim O'Brien
© 2007 The Irish Times
Saturday, 10 March 2007
Monaghan council decides to continue rezoning in Monaghan
The Monaghan County Development plan is at risk of collapse following the decision of county councillors to continue to rezone land in defiance of warnings from Minister for the Environment Dick Roche.
A letter written last month on behalf of Mr Roche to county manager Declan Nelson threatened to scrap the development plan because councillors had rezoned enough land to almost triple the population of the county and create serious flooding risks.
Mr Roche warned that unless the plan was changed, the council could be forced to adopt a plan devised for it by the department.
Councillors yesterday continued to allocate extra land for development against the advice of the county manager. However, in what could be seen as a concession to the Minister, the councillors supported the manager's recommendation to reject two proposals from Fine Gael councillor Hugh McElvaney to rezone land near the village of Inniskeen.
County development plans are initially devised by council planners in line with national guidelines in relation to housing, spatial and planning strategies, and are usually amended by councillors before they ratify the plan.
However, councillors' amendments to the Monaghan plan adopting a large number of additional rezonings prompted Mr Roche's letter, which accused them of "sporadic and haphazard zoning".
The councillors' amendments "seriously compound an already ambitious level of zoning at over 40 locations", the letter said. Enough land had already been allocated to potentially increase the population of Monaghan, which stood at 55,800 in 2006, by 100,000. On a national strategic level, the projected population increase for the county was equal to that planned by the Government for the entire Border region, which includes counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Sligo and Monaghan, up to the year 2020, the letter said.
While the Minister's letter was not discussed at yesterday's meeting, Mr McElvaney accused him of undue interference in the planning process.
"Roche, Dick, is against the development of villages the way we want them," he said.
Councillors yesterday voted to again amend the plan to remove the planners' restrictions on the number of houses that could be built in certain villages using a single planning application.
Eighteen of the 20 councillors voted for the amendment that eased the restriction that only 40 houses could be applied for by a developer at any one time.
Independent councillor Vincent P Martin and mayor of Monaghan Pádraig McNally voted against the amendment.
Mr Martin said that allowing more than 40 houses per application was beyond local requirements and would only serve commuters travelling outside the county. "A block of 40 houses is an estate," he said. The council also voted to zone land from "recreation and amenity" and from "local landscape protection area" to development use.
The council has until March 30th to finish amending the development plan. It is likely that the Minister will then review the plan before deciding whether to take further action.
Olivia Kelly
© 2007 The Irish Times
A letter written last month on behalf of Mr Roche to county manager Declan Nelson threatened to scrap the development plan because councillors had rezoned enough land to almost triple the population of the county and create serious flooding risks.
Mr Roche warned that unless the plan was changed, the council could be forced to adopt a plan devised for it by the department.
Councillors yesterday continued to allocate extra land for development against the advice of the county manager. However, in what could be seen as a concession to the Minister, the councillors supported the manager's recommendation to reject two proposals from Fine Gael councillor Hugh McElvaney to rezone land near the village of Inniskeen.
County development plans are initially devised by council planners in line with national guidelines in relation to housing, spatial and planning strategies, and are usually amended by councillors before they ratify the plan.
However, councillors' amendments to the Monaghan plan adopting a large number of additional rezonings prompted Mr Roche's letter, which accused them of "sporadic and haphazard zoning".
The councillors' amendments "seriously compound an already ambitious level of zoning at over 40 locations", the letter said. Enough land had already been allocated to potentially increase the population of Monaghan, which stood at 55,800 in 2006, by 100,000. On a national strategic level, the projected population increase for the county was equal to that planned by the Government for the entire Border region, which includes counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Sligo and Monaghan, up to the year 2020, the letter said.
While the Minister's letter was not discussed at yesterday's meeting, Mr McElvaney accused him of undue interference in the planning process.
"Roche, Dick, is against the development of villages the way we want them," he said.
Councillors yesterday voted to again amend the plan to remove the planners' restrictions on the number of houses that could be built in certain villages using a single planning application.
Eighteen of the 20 councillors voted for the amendment that eased the restriction that only 40 houses could be applied for by a developer at any one time.
Independent councillor Vincent P Martin and mayor of Monaghan Pádraig McNally voted against the amendment.
Mr Martin said that allowing more than 40 houses per application was beyond local requirements and would only serve commuters travelling outside the county. "A block of 40 houses is an estate," he said. The council also voted to zone land from "recreation and amenity" and from "local landscape protection area" to development use.
The council has until March 30th to finish amending the development plan. It is likely that the Minister will then review the plan before deciding whether to take further action.
Olivia Kelly
© 2007 The Irish Times
Friday, 8 December 2006
Illegal fuel dumping costs council 1.1m
ILLEGAL dumping of waste fuel has cost a local authority an estimated 1.1 million.
A report on the dumping of a diesel wash is to be presented by Monaghan County Council at a local authority meeting on Monday. The report outlines the scale of the dumping, and points out that it has been unable to take legal action against anyone.
Diesel wash is a by-product of the illegal processing of marked gas oil, which is normally used for home heating or agricultural machinery. Concentrated sulphuric acid is added to the gas oil, removing the dye. The resultant unmarked gas oil is sold illegally as road-use diesel.
The dumping of the diesel wash is linked to cross-border diesel laundering and smuggling. The report says the vast majority is dumped late at night in remote areas, and sometimes in conservation areas, such as recent finds at Concra, near Castleblayney, and
The report says that this year, Monaghan County Council has responded to 18 instances of diesel wash dumping. This is down on 2005, when it dealt with 28 cases, and 2004, when it dealt with 36.
However, while the number of cases has fallen, the quantity has grown. As of November 9 this year, the local authority had dealt with 82,000 litres of dumped diesel wash, compared with 58,000 litres in 2005 and 52,000 litres in 2004.
Customs and Excise has estimated that 1,000 litres of acid wash waste represents about 100,000 litres of laundered fuel. This means six million litres of laundered fuel was produced in the area last year alone.
In addition, the 82,000 litres mentioned does not include diesel wash material found during construction work on the N2 Castleblayney bypass earlier this year. The report says burst containers contaminated the surrounding ground and some surface waters. Some 95 tonnes of diesel wash and contaminated soil were removed for treatment, costing about €100,000. This will initially be borne by GAMA Construction, who won the contract for the road work.
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