New Planning & Development Bill Must Put a Stop Unwarranted Appeals – IFA
IFA National Environment Chair John Murphy has criticised the nature of planning appeals that are disrupting farmers’ plans to upgrade their farms.
“We are hearing reports from around the country of multiple objections from the same individual. It was raised last week at our South Tipperary County Executive, at which farmers spoke of their frustration and annoyance at being at the mercy of opportunistic appeals that are merely designed to create backlogs in the system,” John Murphy said.
“Very often, the objection to An Bord Pleanála to withdrawn before the decision is due, so the fee is refunded. In our view, it’s a blatant abuse of the planning system and has to be addressed in the new Planning and Development Bill,” he said.
The IFA have written to Minister Darragh O’ Brien highlighting the importance of the new Planning and Development Bill ensuring that farmers’ planning applications are not obstructed by false and unfounded claims from individuals and organisations which have nothing to do with the planning process.
IFA Chair for South Tipperary, Pat Carroll expressed his concerns about the wider effects of this issue.
“Local suppliers; builders; merchants; and service providers are finding it difficult to co-ordinate their work because of what’s going on. It’s holding back economic activity and deliberately obstructing works that bring efficiency and environmental benefits.” “The Minister now has to make sure the new Planning Bill stops what I firmly believe is abuse of our planning system,” he said.
Pat Carroll also emphasised the frustration of county councillors at the exploitation of the planning process system.
