BY HARRYWALSH
THE new County Donegal Development Plan 2006-2012, which came into force two months ago, has come under fire for choking the county's housing supply.
There has been a significant rise in the number of decisions to refuse planning permission for multiple house developments since the new CDP came into force on August 8.
The Council's new 'Holiday Home' policy, which mean that only one in five new houses built in Donegal over the next six years can be holiday homes, has also been cited for the refusal of permission for a number of proposed developments in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that more than half of planning decisions for houses in Donegal that were appealed to An Bord Pleanála were reversed by the board last year.
An Bord Pleanála's 2005 report, published this week, showed that decisions were overturned in 57 per cent of cases involving Donegal County Council, compared with just 15 per cent in Offaly.
A growing number of architects and agents are claiming that it is now 'virtually impossible' to get planning permission under the new plan. Members of Donegal County Council are also coming under increasing pressure amid claims that the new Plan will 'strangle' Donegal's housing supply.
It is an accusation which Mr Francie Coyle, Director of Planning, rejects emphatically.
"If you look at the number of decisions made by the Council last year (5,579) you will see that we're the busiest county in Ireland. You will also notice in the An Bord Pleanála report that Donegal had the smallest per cent of decisions (3.2) appealed which means that the vast majority were happy with the decision we made as were third parties," Mr Coyle said.
"Donegal is a very large rural county which has a unique settlement pattern. We have a long history of living in the countryside. It's important that we do accommodate people who wish to live in the countryside and I believe the new Plan does that," he added.
The Director of Planning said it was Council policy to promote quality one off rural housing for permanent occupation by applicants demonstrating a 'bona fide' need for housing.
"Every individual in rural areas will be given the opportunity to live on a permanent basis in the area in which they were born or raised, or who take part of and contribute to the rural community," Mr Coyle said.
'GOOD PROPOSALS'
Commenting on the new 'Holiday Home' and 'Urban Generated Rural Housing' policies, Mr Coyle felt the Council have come up with good proposals.
"These policies were agreed on after long and very detailed debates. They will all be reviewed in twelve months time but I believe that they're good policies. For example, the policy states that people living in Letterkenny and Derry should be accommodated within those towns and cities rather than spilling out into the rural countryside. There will be certain exceptions for people who have roots in the area but, here again, they will be reviewed in twelve months time," he said.
When asked about the significant rise in the number of decisions to refuse planning permission, Mr Coyle said it was too early to look at trends.
"In the three months leading up to the adoption of the new plan we received almost 1,000 planning applications per month (May, 1,037 applications, 1,001 in June and 939 in July). Some of those were processed under the old plan, further information was sought in others while the remainder didn't get through in time. It will be some time yet before things settle down and we can see trends," he said.
"We're different from Kildare, Clare and Wicklow. We're a rural county and we have to have different policies to take in to consider our existing population and neighbours.
"We have to have some control to ensure that our beautiful countryside is protected. When you look at the sheer size of the new County Development Plan it's apparent that it will take time to bed in. We're working our way through it at present with a series of workshops with the members and then we'll hold workshops for architects and agents," he added.
Additional planning staffing resources have been appointed to deal with the Council's new functions under the CDP.
