CONCERNOVER REZONINGIN DRAFTPLAN
There is growing concern in north Louth that the zoning proposed in Louth County Council’s Draft Development Plan 2021-2026 will prevent local people from building a home in a large part of the Cooley peninsula unless they or their parents are farmers owning at least three hectares of land.
Local councillors are urging people who are concerned about the impact of the zoning to make submissions before the closing date for public consultation which is noon on December 23.
Cllr Andrea McKevitt, has expressed her concern regarding the deadline for submissions in light of the current pandemic restrictions.
‘ There are many issues surrounding this development plan,’ she said. ‘ However the biggest one relevant as far as I am concerned, is the attack on rural Ireland, and in particularly the Cooley Peninsula, where about 75% of the area has been blanketed by the stroke of a green paintbrush, an area that spans from Omeath to Faughart affecting about 5,500 people. This plan allows only two criteria to build in the green area, named; Rural Zone 1, one being people engaged in full time agriculture and the other being two children allowed to build on family-owned land, where their parents own a minimum of 3 hectares of land. ’
‘ This will affect so many lives, it will have a negative impact on schools, the local economy, football clubs, organisations, communities, and parishes.
She said that many people have voiced concerns about the inability to meet and discuss the changes with the Council’s planning staff because of the global health pandemic.
While zoom meetings and the likes can happen and the Council executives have facilitated such meetings, she argued that ‘ this is not desirable or feasible in most cases. People are trying to identify lands on a map over zoom instead of a situation where one can sit down and pinpoint their land and ask specific questions that concerns them.’
‘People living in the green area feel they are being cheated and discriminated against simply because they live on the wrong side of the road, where local needs criteria does not apply,’ she continued. ‘We need a time to allow for proper public consultation to take place with the people who will be affected, and their communities.’
Cllr McKevitt also pointed out that ‘At present the Dundalk – Carlingford area has worrying COVID-19 figures, and the key priority for everyone is to keep themselves and their families safe and so meet ups to discuss this plan and its many implications is not at the forefront of people’s minds. Some feel their communities are being victimised in these uncertain times. ‘
She said she has called on both Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning Peter Burke, to have this legal deadline of the December 23 extended until such time where the country is in Level 2 per the National Framework for living with COVID-19.
‘Level 2 would allow for a small gathering to take place in a socially distanced setting, and the issues of this plan could be discussed and addressed in a proper manner, which is so much desired by the people of North Louth.
In any case I cannot stress the importance of engaging with this plan, especially to the people of the Cooley Peninsula, and North Louth.