An Bord Pleanala are ‘a bit of a joke’ claims Donegal Council Cathaoirleach  

Cllr Martin Harley was extremely critical of An Bord Pleanala at this month’s meeting of the Lifford-Stranorlar Municipal District meeting on Tuesday.

He suggested that some of their decisions were “ridiculous” and with regard to some recent decisions within the area, he described them as “a bit of a joke”. 

The Fine Gael councillor who is also the current Chair of Donegal County Council expressed his frustration after he pointed out that the Drennan application, opposite the Beeches, had been refused planning permission last week by An Bord Pleanala. 

He explained: “Donegal County Council have granted planning on that site twice and down the years and after An Bord Pleanala having it on their desk for 22 months.

“Then they go and make a decision last week to say that they are turning it down because of flooding, on that particular site where those houses are going.

“I have been living on that road 23 years and there has never been an issue there until last week,” he said. 

“I just find at a time when housing is so badly needed and as a council, we granted planning twice on that site, yet it took 22 months for An Bord Pleanala to make a decision  

He added: “They are a faceless organisation, that is just what they are, making decisions like that there.

He added that there were a lot of other projects with them at present and recently it had taken them 19 months to make a decision over a Finn Valley development.      

“They are a bit of a joke, that is all I can say about them,” he added. 

He added that there were 24 houses to be built out there and it would have been a great scheme with possibly three of them for council tenants.

He added that all these decisions from ABP were “ridiculous”. 

All they seemed to do was see where the river is, they see where the site is and make decisions. And if they had looked closer they would have found that all the services were there including footpaths, he suggested. 

“It’s disgraceful,” he said.  

Cllr Gerry Crawford (FF) said that they had to have “concerns about the speed by which An Bord Pleanala works, irrespective of their decisions. We don’t have to agree with them . . . but there are serious amounts of money involved here, many multiples of millions, especially for an area like the Finn Valley.”

He referenced the ongoing Riverine project, where it was waiting on a foreshore licence with no indication or guarantee from An Bord Pleanala as to whether it might be looked at.

He added: “But I think that it is time to say publicly that we do have concerns about An Bord Pleanala and the speed of their work and more on the effects it is having within Donegal and certainly within the Finn Valley area.”

Cllr Gary Doherty (SF) said that he did not want to labour the point about what had been said about A Bord Pleanala and “the very direct impact that these delays are having on us here as an MD. 

He said: “Very recently we saw what happened with the Riverine, just a few weeks ago and what happened with the Astroturf in Stranorlar and now we are hearing about these houses that were planned for Dreenan.

“There are other planning applications in this MD that are currently sitting in some filing cabinet, waiting on a decision because of some internal wranglings of the Board. 

“Whatever about the internal issues that are happening up there they need to be resolved because it is having a very direct impact right across the country.

“And we as an MD are quite right to be voicing our concerns about what is happening with An Bord Pleanala and about the impact that those issues, that they are having internally, are having on communities in the country. That is disgraceful, the way that they are carrying on,” he added.

He proposed that they write as an MD to the Minister outlining their concerns and ask him that everything that can be done to try and resolve the issues up there, be done 

Cllr Paddy McGowan (FF) said that he had not realised that the planning at Drennan had been turned down. 

He asked that the Divisional Manager for Planning be at the MD meetings, as there seemed to be a number of conflicts going on.

Having witnessed what was going on recently in Cork and elsewhere, there was no suggestion of building on flood plains, but he said that they may “have to go back to the drawing board” with regard to the County Development Plan, notwithstanding the time running out, as has been presented to the meeting.

He added that it was well known for years that it was difficult to get sites in Ballybofey and Stranorlar and such decisions would have to see them go back to the whole question of the rezoning of lands in the area for development purposes. There were enough constraints at present, without adding yet more.