Sunday, November 26, 2006
Warrenstown College hosts the Annual Pride of Place Awards
Friday saw the Annual Pride of Place Awards take place in Warrenstown Colege, just outside the vilage of Drumree in South Meath. I attended, as did close to 600 others, including the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mary Walace TD, and the County Manager, Mr Tom Dowling.
Despite the wild weather outside, the hall was nice and warm. Food and wine was served up to all the guests. The bill for last year's event was estimated to come to over €50 per head, although from what was on offer I'd be surprised if this year's costs were as high.
I spoke to a few of the resident groups there; there were representatives from across the County. The night is arranged in recognition of the work that they all carry out in their estates over the year. Bearing in mind the fact that the work is all done voluntarily, the free dinner seems to be the least the County Manager can provide these commnuity activists with.
Myself and Paul Monahan, from Lutterall Hall, Dunboyne.
Because of Meath's funding shortfall (We get 60% per head of what the rest of the county gets in funding) we can't afford some basic public services, such as a proper Parks Department. Consequently, the County shies away from cutting grass in private estates and provides little financial support to home owners. Apart from a small amenity grant and lawnmower grant, the Price of Place awards are the only other way of providing any sort of fiancial assistance to estates.
If Dick Roche would give Meath our fair share then maybe we could give further help to homeowners.
Despite the wild weather outside, the hall was nice and warm. Food and wine was served up to all the guests. The bill for last year's event was estimated to come to over €50 per head, although from what was on offer I'd be surprised if this year's costs were as high.
I spoke to a few of the resident groups there; there were representatives from across the County. The night is arranged in recognition of the work that they all carry out in their estates over the year. Bearing in mind the fact that the work is all done voluntarily, the free dinner seems to be the least the County Manager can provide these commnuity activists with.
Myself and Paul Monahan, from Lutterall Hall, Dunboyne.
Because of Meath's funding shortfall (We get 60% per head of what the rest of the county gets in funding) we can't afford some basic public services, such as a proper Parks Department. Consequently, the County shies away from cutting grass in private estates and provides little financial support to home owners. Apart from a small amenity grant and lawnmower grant, the Price of Place awards are the only other way of providing any sort of fiancial assistance to estates.
If Dick Roche would give Meath our fair share then maybe we could give further help to homeowners.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Where next for Inse Bay?
The decision by An Bord Pleanala to allow the development of almost 50 houses in Inse Bay, Laytown has caused heartache for local families and thrown the adopted East Meath Local Area Plan into a state of limbo.
Along with the Residents Association, I was one of the five people who made a submission to An Bord Pleanala, arguing against the development. My argument was that the development contravened the adopted East Meath Area Plan, since myself and the four local area councillors had zoned the sites of the houses as “public open space” last year. I made the point that the housing could only proceed if councillors voted to rezone the open space back to housing.
An Bord Pleanala’s inspector considered my submission, but rejected it. She said that the County Development Plan (2001) should take precedence over the East Meath Plan, and in the County Development Plan the land was zoned residential. She said that for my argument to hold then the council should have varied the County Development Plan last year to reflect the changes in the Local Area Plan. This is not what we were told by Council officials when we adopted the plan last year.
Now all hell has broken loose. To the outsider, who may not be familiar with how councils function and how plans are developed and adopted it looks like the council missed a trick. Coming on the back of the Laytown school crisis people are rightly annoyed.
When the original application was made people asked how a developer can build on ground that was advertised to residents in the sales brochure as their open space for the estate.
Part of the reason is that the Department of the Environment revised the residential density guidelines a few years back, which meant that developers could apply to build more houses on estates they had already completed. Seemingly the sales brochure can be just thrown out the window; it has no legal status, something that myself and the Labour Party intend to tighten up on in government (and something that the current government has done nothing about).
For information, here’s a summary of how the East Meath Local Area Plan developed. A Strategic Issues paper was published, which generated comments from a wide range of local individuals and groups. The planners considered all of these submissions and met with the Councillors on many occasions to go through each submission. We met with local groups, landowners and individuals to discuss the merits of each submissions (there were hundreds), consider whether they concurred with departmental advise (such as the Regional planning Guidelines etc.) and then we made a view on what land should be zoned in what way.
The planners and legal staff in the council then got to work, went through the 300 page Planning and Development Act legislation to come up with the required procedure for adopting the Plan and preparing the necessary legal paperwork to adopt the Plan.
Councillors were then asked to approve this. We went through each clause in the Plan to make sure we were happy with its purpose, but it wasn’t our role to consider the technical aspects of the legalities of the plan. This was clearly and 100% the role of the paid council officials (It’s rather like buying a house. An individual decides on the house they want, and instructs a solicitor to undertake all the necessary legal paperwork. You go through each clause before signing it but you don’t try and interpret which piece legislation affects which clause!).
I have spoken to one of the “top team” at County Hall to get his view on what has happened. He has read the Inspector’s report and is of the opinion that the Council Planners are RIGHT and An Bord Pleanala is WRONG. He has asked the Council solicitors, Regan McEntee, to prepare legal advice on this point. I have been told that this advice is expected to be available within the next two weeks and I will be pushing for it to be made public.
If Regan McEntee say that the Council is right then I will be pushing the County Manager to immediately challenge the decision of An Bord Pleanala through the Courts. I will argue that the Council needs to do this to defend the people of Inse bay and to ensure that the status of the East Meath Plan is protected.
If Regan McEntee say that the Council is wrong then there is always the possibility that an individual / group of residents brings a legal challenge. This would potentially cost money, especially since if they lose they could end up paying costs of Woodgreen builders. This is something that the residents association will no doubt consider.
If no challenge is brought to this decision or if a challenge is brought and lost, then these are the implications:
The development at Inse Bay will be allowed to proceed;
Anyone who has gone to court will be out of pocket for at least their own expenses and possibility the costs of the developer Woodgreen;
The status of the East Meath Local Area Plan will be compromised. The Council will need to review any recent decisions that may be affected and will probably have to make some immediate amendments to the County Development Plan;
But how has this happened? Who is to blame?
Well, if An Bord Pleanala are wrong then there is little that can be done to seek any redress, except of course that the houses aren’t built (which is a great result in itself)
If the houses proceed then the fault must lie firmly at the door of the council. What whose door? Is it the fault of the councillors or the officials? I think any fair-minded person would have to agree that councillors can only make decisions based on the legal and professional advice given to them by the officials. In this case we were not advised that a revision of the County Development Plan was necessary to ratify the zoning on Inse Bay. The officials are the full-time, paid experts in planning procedures and legislation. If they tell Councillors “Here’s how you achieve the objectives you want to achieve in the East Meath area” then we have to take them at face value and we have to believe what they tell us.
Election candidates who call for mass resignations of the council (12 Fianna Fail Councillors, 9 Fine Gael Councillors, Labour and others ALL voted through this plan) are plainly playing politics, which apart from being transparent, is unhelpful and childish and not something I think is right or proper bearing in mind the serious impact this decision has on the community of East Meath.
The fight against these houses isn’t over yet.
Meanwhile, Minister Roche is proposing to increase funding to Councils by just 2% over the coming year. Here are some thoughts on the matter:
Along with the Residents Association, I was one of the five people who made a submission to An Bord Pleanala, arguing against the development. My argument was that the development contravened the adopted East Meath Area Plan, since myself and the four local area councillors had zoned the sites of the houses as “public open space” last year. I made the point that the housing could only proceed if councillors voted to rezone the open space back to housing.
An Bord Pleanala’s inspector considered my submission, but rejected it. She said that the County Development Plan (2001) should take precedence over the East Meath Plan, and in the County Development Plan the land was zoned residential. She said that for my argument to hold then the council should have varied the County Development Plan last year to reflect the changes in the Local Area Plan. This is not what we were told by Council officials when we adopted the plan last year.
Now all hell has broken loose. To the outsider, who may not be familiar with how councils function and how plans are developed and adopted it looks like the council missed a trick. Coming on the back of the Laytown school crisis people are rightly annoyed.
When the original application was made people asked how a developer can build on ground that was advertised to residents in the sales brochure as their open space for the estate.
Part of the reason is that the Department of the Environment revised the residential density guidelines a few years back, which meant that developers could apply to build more houses on estates they had already completed. Seemingly the sales brochure can be just thrown out the window; it has no legal status, something that myself and the Labour Party intend to tighten up on in government (and something that the current government has done nothing about).
For information, here’s a summary of how the East Meath Local Area Plan developed. A Strategic Issues paper was published, which generated comments from a wide range of local individuals and groups. The planners considered all of these submissions and met with the Councillors on many occasions to go through each submission. We met with local groups, landowners and individuals to discuss the merits of each submissions (there were hundreds), consider whether they concurred with departmental advise (such as the Regional planning Guidelines etc.) and then we made a view on what land should be zoned in what way.
The planners and legal staff in the council then got to work, went through the 300 page Planning and Development Act legislation to come up with the required procedure for adopting the Plan and preparing the necessary legal paperwork to adopt the Plan.
Councillors were then asked to approve this. We went through each clause in the Plan to make sure we were happy with its purpose, but it wasn’t our role to consider the technical aspects of the legalities of the plan. This was clearly and 100% the role of the paid council officials (It’s rather like buying a house. An individual decides on the house they want, and instructs a solicitor to undertake all the necessary legal paperwork. You go through each clause before signing it but you don’t try and interpret which piece legislation affects which clause!).
I have spoken to one of the “top team” at County Hall to get his view on what has happened. He has read the Inspector’s report and is of the opinion that the Council Planners are RIGHT and An Bord Pleanala is WRONG. He has asked the Council solicitors, Regan McEntee, to prepare legal advice on this point. I have been told that this advice is expected to be available within the next two weeks and I will be pushing for it to be made public.
If Regan McEntee say that the Council is right then I will be pushing the County Manager to immediately challenge the decision of An Bord Pleanala through the Courts. I will argue that the Council needs to do this to defend the people of Inse bay and to ensure that the status of the East Meath Plan is protected.
If Regan McEntee say that the Council is wrong then there is always the possibility that an individual / group of residents brings a legal challenge. This would potentially cost money, especially since if they lose they could end up paying costs of Woodgreen builders. This is something that the residents association will no doubt consider.
If no challenge is brought to this decision or if a challenge is brought and lost, then these are the implications:
The development at Inse Bay will be allowed to proceed;
Anyone who has gone to court will be out of pocket for at least their own expenses and possibility the costs of the developer Woodgreen;
The status of the East Meath Local Area Plan will be compromised. The Council will need to review any recent decisions that may be affected and will probably have to make some immediate amendments to the County Development Plan;
But how has this happened? Who is to blame?
Well, if An Bord Pleanala are wrong then there is little that can be done to seek any redress, except of course that the houses aren’t built (which is a great result in itself)
If the houses proceed then the fault must lie firmly at the door of the council. What whose door? Is it the fault of the councillors or the officials? I think any fair-minded person would have to agree that councillors can only make decisions based on the legal and professional advice given to them by the officials. In this case we were not advised that a revision of the County Development Plan was necessary to ratify the zoning on Inse Bay. The officials are the full-time, paid experts in planning procedures and legislation. If they tell Councillors “Here’s how you achieve the objectives you want to achieve in the East Meath area” then we have to take them at face value and we have to believe what they tell us.
Election candidates who call for mass resignations of the council (12 Fianna Fail Councillors, 9 Fine Gael Councillors, Labour and others ALL voted through this plan) are plainly playing politics, which apart from being transparent, is unhelpful and childish and not something I think is right or proper bearing in mind the serious impact this decision has on the community of East Meath.
The fight against these houses isn’t over yet.
Meanwhile, Minister Roche is proposing to increase funding to Councils by just 2% over the coming year. Here are some thoughts on the matter:
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Comments on the Strategy for Drogheda and East Meath
This week saw a meeting of councillors from East Meath, Drogheda Borough and Louth County Council to discuss comments we have received on the draft strategy for the development of Drogheda and the East Meath Area.
The group meets every six months or so and is meant to be a "Steering Committee". However, because of the infrequency of the meetings it is really little more than a talking shop to allow councillors to let off steam about the proposals.
At the meeting we discussed representations received from West Street traders, who are concerned that not enough thought has gone into the impact on retailers in that area. We also received a number of submissions from landowners and affected parties around the Stameen area (behind Grange Rath and alongside the Mill Road). A new link road is being proposed that would help alleviate local traffic. In addition, the Boyne Rugby Club would like to relocate here. However, both of these facilities appear to be dependent on some form of residential rezoning. The draft strategy states that the land in the area should be a "Strategic Reserve". Some sort of change / compromise appears to be necessary here.
RTE called me up and asked me to take part in a programme called The Constituency. It goes out on Radio 1 every Saturday and assesses the electoral prospects for the main candidates. I was delighted to get the call and duly met the presenter, Rachel English, at Dunboyne Castle Hotel.
The show can be heard here:
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/theconstituency/rams/2006/4november.smil
The other voice in the interview is Serena Campbell, who ran in the by-election. I haven't seen her in a while so it was nice to catch up. She's good company.
After the interview I dropped over to the boundary of the Hotel with the adjoining residential estate, the Dunboyne Castle estate. I'd been contacted by a number of local residents who voiced their concern about what appears to be a closing-off of the access route from the 400-home Dunboyne Castle estate to the Hotel grounds. Acccess to the Hotel was somehting that was used by the sales agent to help market the homes, and residents are concerned that this great benefit is going to be withdrawn. I got on to the Hotel Duty Manager, who assured me that that the Hotel wants to keep the access link open. I will also speak to the Area Manager and ask him to monitor the situation. In the meantime, if any residents come across a locked gate then please let me know or ring the hotel directly.
A locked gate from Dunboyne Castle Estate into the Hotel grounds
While I was in the estate I noticed that some of the public lights have not been switched on. This is not uncommon, a point I make in the video below...
Residents kept in the dark over public lighting delays
On Thursday I attended a presentation by the Concerned Parents of East Meath to the Dail Committee on Education and Science. The parents gave their experiences on the failure to provide a school in Laytown in time for the return to school in September, and suggested how the system could be reformed so that other schools across the country don't have to go through what they went through. The presentation was very professional, and well delivered. The Committeee responded that it intends to incorporate their thoughts and suggestions into their recommendations to the Minister.
The group meets every six months or so and is meant to be a "Steering Committee". However, because of the infrequency of the meetings it is really little more than a talking shop to allow councillors to let off steam about the proposals.
At the meeting we discussed representations received from West Street traders, who are concerned that not enough thought has gone into the impact on retailers in that area. We also received a number of submissions from landowners and affected parties around the Stameen area (behind Grange Rath and alongside the Mill Road). A new link road is being proposed that would help alleviate local traffic. In addition, the Boyne Rugby Club would like to relocate here. However, both of these facilities appear to be dependent on some form of residential rezoning. The draft strategy states that the land in the area should be a "Strategic Reserve". Some sort of change / compromise appears to be necessary here.
RTE called me up and asked me to take part in a programme called The Constituency. It goes out on Radio 1 every Saturday and assesses the electoral prospects for the main candidates. I was delighted to get the call and duly met the presenter, Rachel English, at Dunboyne Castle Hotel.
The show can be heard here:
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/theconstituency/rams/2006/4november.smil
The other voice in the interview is Serena Campbell, who ran in the by-election. I haven't seen her in a while so it was nice to catch up. She's good company.
After the interview I dropped over to the boundary of the Hotel with the adjoining residential estate, the Dunboyne Castle estate. I'd been contacted by a number of local residents who voiced their concern about what appears to be a closing-off of the access route from the 400-home Dunboyne Castle estate to the Hotel grounds. Acccess to the Hotel was somehting that was used by the sales agent to help market the homes, and residents are concerned that this great benefit is going to be withdrawn. I got on to the Hotel Duty Manager, who assured me that that the Hotel wants to keep the access link open. I will also speak to the Area Manager and ask him to monitor the situation. In the meantime, if any residents come across a locked gate then please let me know or ring the hotel directly.
A locked gate from Dunboyne Castle Estate into the Hotel grounds
While I was in the estate I noticed that some of the public lights have not been switched on. This is not uncommon, a point I make in the video below...
Residents kept in the dark over public lighting delays
On Thursday I attended a presentation by the Concerned Parents of East Meath to the Dail Committee on Education and Science. The parents gave their experiences on the failure to provide a school in Laytown in time for the return to school in September, and suggested how the system could be reformed so that other schools across the country don't have to go through what they went through. The presentation was very professional, and well delivered. The Committeee responded that it intends to incorporate their thoughts and suggestions into their recommendations to the Minister.
