Dáil passes Planning and Development Bill

national | environment | other press Wednesday July 05, 2006 11:22 by Stephanie - Sinn Fein (personal capacity) sindikatua at yahoomail dot com

Planning and Development Bill intentionally designed to bypass genuine concerns of the people

Last night the Dail passed the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill thereby giving the go-ahead to allow applications to go through a new Strategic Infrastructure Board within An Board Pleanala rather than the normal Local Authority planning applications.

This Bill allows for Developers to make applications for proposed incineration sites to go straight through An Bord Pleanala and completely disregard the wishes of the local communities they will be situated on. It also also prevents an application for Judicial Review to be taken by an organisation which has not pursued the same objectives during the last 12 months. This will presumably have the effect pf preventing a newly formed community-concern group from applying for Judicial Review.

Sinn Fein spokesperson on Environment, Heritage and Local Government Arthur Morgan has condemned the passing of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill in the Dail last night due to the implications it will have on not only the planning application process but the communities that will now be affected by it.

Deputy Morgan said the Bill was “intentionally calculated to bypass the
genuine concerns of people in areas such as Carronstown, Ringaskiddy, the greater Poolbeg area, and Rossport.” He expressed disappointment at the way in which the legislation was railroaded through the Dail at so late a stage in the session and felt that this reflected the motivations that were behind the Bill. Due to this Sinn Fein tabled a number of amendments to the Bill.

Deputy Morgan said, “This Bill was designed to facilitate the ramming
through of procedures that allow for incinerators to be built under the
guise of being of ‘strategic infrastructural importance’ without any
consultation with local communities. It allows for a facility where no
regard will be shown for not only the democratic wishes of communities but
also the development plans that have been already put in place by the Local Authorities. Indeed, Local Authorities powers have been diminished still further by the Government through this legislation and it only serves to
show what little regard this Government has for them.

“This Bill was intentionally calculated to bypass the genuine concerns of
people in areas such as Carronstown, Ringaskiddy, the greater Poolbeg area, and Rossport. The intention of this legislation was portrayed by the
Government as being a way to streamline applications for proposed
developments that would be of infrastructural benefit to the greater
community as a whole, when in actual fact it will only serve to
‘fast-track’ purely profit-driven escapades that the public will oppose but
they will now have no realistic means of opposing through the planning
process.

“Sinn Fein has continually campaigned for legislation to be put in place
that will address the deficiencies in the planning process and where the
genuine health and safety concerns of communities will be adhered to.
Communities should be listened to when Developers propose to put these
developments in their back-gardens without any concern for the well-being
of those people.”