Next Wednesday September 14th is the closing date for submissions on the Westport Town Plan & the Westport Environs Plan. To keep it very simple these plans effectively determine the road map for Westport over the next 4 years and ensure we have a fully integrated and balanced approach to future development. This process started nearly 3 years ago with both plans finally ratified in late 2009. Normally once these plans are approved they remain in place for 6 years but because the Department of Environment felt they were fundamentally flawed they rejected both plans and have pushed them back to the Town & County Councillors to reflect further on their decisions.
In December 2009 we received a letter from the Department of Environment which outlined their concerns with the 2 plans and the reasons why they would reject both.
In relation to the Environs Plan it specifically referred to the following "The Department is very concerned in the vicinity of the proposed N5 approach road to the town that there is considered potential for random and uncoordinated development that would seriously undermine the setting and presentation of Westport as one of Irelands best known heritage town". The area that the Department specifically refer to in this statement is the Monamore and Drummindoo Area where large tracts of lands were zoned for "residential" and "commercial" development. I would ask that you keep the following in mind in determining if this was a right or wrong decision:
- The lands in Monamore/Drummindoo are not on the town sewerage scheme or town water supply. The roads in the area are already substandard and have no footpaths or street lighting
- In the Town Development Plan there are no lands specifically zoned for recreation/amenity; in the Environs Plan there are 5 acres. Any sort of football organisation would need a minimum of 10 acres to meet current and future needs
- We have 2 industrial parks in town, one is virtually empty and the other one is at 50% capacity. Throughout the town we had numerous empty commercial building and shops.
- There are 882 houses/apartments which have planning permission but have not commenced construction. Under the new planning legislation applicants can extend their planning timelines by 5 years even if the land associated with the development is rezoned.
- Per the recent census one in four houses in Westport are unoccupied and the town had a population of approximately 5,500 people. Using a very conservative estimate this would equate to at least 750 houses. This does not take into consideration the 5 unfinished housing estates/apartment blocks in the area.
- The proposed N5 from Castlebar to Westport will run directly through Monamore/Drummindoo. The cost of these lands will be significantly higher if the zoning is changed from "Agriculture" to "Commercial/residential" thus increasing the cost to the tax-payer in multiples of the real value
Last May all of the County Councillors present agreed with the Department and the Mangers recommendation and returned these lands to "Agricultural" zoning. Under this zoning families of land owners would still be able to build one-off houses on family lands or for the lands to be developed for recreation/amenity facilities. Unfortunately following the receipt of submissions from a handful of individuals/Companies who had an interest in land in the area this decision was reversed in July at a Westport Electoral Area meeting (3 votes to 1, 1 abstained); we are now back to the exact same situation where we were in 2008/2009 with land zoning and existing developments to cater for a population of 20,000 people. The 5 Councillors who make the final decision later this month are Cllr Austin Francis O'Malley, Cllr Margaret Adams, Cllr John O'Malley, Cllr Christy Hyland and myself. In recent times we have seen the damage caused by bad planning and uncontrolled development and I sincerely hope common sense will prevail and that all of the progress we have made in Westport is not permanently damaged.
I am not asking you to agree or disagree with me on my views on over-zoning but I would ask that you would make a submission so it is simply not property speculators and developers who are influencing Councillors in their decisions. To see the full report in relation to the latest stage of the Town & Environs Plan please click on the following link:
A submission does not have to any way technical or detailed and just needs to refer to the Town-land or the Environs Plan reference number (MT01 & MM-01 relate to the Environs Plan) and should just state the reason why you agree or disagree with a particular proposal. You may also simply just make a general comment about the overall plan. The link attached also includes the Town Development Plan which I would also recommend you give your views if you feel strongly about the changes proposed in MT01 or MT02. As I am no longer a Town Councillor I have deliberately refrained from making any comments in this mail.
If you would like to make a submission please send an e-mail to dkeane@mayococo.ie by next Wednesday September 14th at 5pm. Please feel free to forward this mail to any others who you feel would like to make their views on either of the two plans.
