‘Inability to build is stalling rural growth’
THE rural way of life will ‘continue to disappear’ if efforts are not made to revive county Sligo.
The concerns for rural communities were outlined by a number of councillors at last week’s meeting at IT Sligo’s Knocknarea Arena.
Speaking on his own motion called for the executive and election members to ‘create goodwill positive discrimination to revive rural Sligo’, Cllr Michael Clarke told the meeting that rural Sligo was the ‘poor relation’ and needed urgent help to ensure that schools, shops, post offices and sports clubs stay afloat.
The west Sligo councillor said that there was nothing to help ‘revive rural county Sligo’ despite a number of plans in place, which were outlined earlier at the meeting, to develop and progress urban Sligo.
Referring to a local school in his area, the Independent councillor said its numbers had fallen from 78 to 13.
This, he said, was largely down to the inability of local people to build in their area.
He said the planning guidelines and the county development plans had contributed to this, and said the local need rule is ‘surely wrong’.
Cllr Clarke explained that it was necessary for the message to get across that rural county Sligo can be developed and is open to people.
Cllr Thomas Walsh said the one-off planning issue was ‘ serious’ and that it continues to come up again and again, with huge issues along national routes.
He also referred to what he described as a ‘ huge’ decline in GAA clubs in Sligo who were previously able to field more teams at Senior, Intermediate and Junior level.
It was only when you live in and represent a rural area that you could understand the issue, Cllr Joe Queenan said, that even though you were born and reared in an area you can not build a house there.
He outlined his concerns with the existing Enniscrone area plan, for which he said a detailed future plan would be on the way.
Cllr Gerard Mullaney said he wholeheartedly supported the motion.
He explained that he sees the devastation of rural Ireland on a daily basis, and that no planning means more decline.
A sub-committee has been set up, Cllr Donal Gilroy explained, to address the planning issues and he said all councillors were welcome to be on it.
A ‘relook’ at rural Ireland was required, according to Cllr Thomas Healy, while Cllr Marie Casserly said the quality of life in rural Ireland was ‘much better’.
Rural families were needed, Cllr Dara Mulvey said, to keep schools, shops and businesses going.
In response to the concerns outlined by members, CEO Ciaran Hayes said that it was an extremely sensitive issue.
It was unfair, according to Mr Hayes, to say that there has been no constructive engagement, but there hasn’t been agreement, he said.
There’s a balance to be struck, he explained, with regard to planning.
The executive has listened to the concerns of members, but has been constrained by national policy.
There would, however, be a meeting with members of the new planning sub-committee later this year to discuss their thoughts on the matter.
Cllr Michael Clarke said he ‘ sincerely welcomed’ the words of the CEO, and said they were all looking for common ground on the issue.