Go-ahead for takeaway in no-fry zone leaves people ‘devastated’
A DECISION by Wicklow County Council to grant permission for a restaurant and takeaway in Blacklion despite a planning restriction in the County Development Plan was slammed by councillors last week.
Cllr Tom Fortune said that people in Blacklion were very agitated by the decision saying it had been agreed in the County Development Plan not to have a takeaway within a certain distance of the nearby schools.
‘To say the residents are devastated is a gross understatement. We put a directive in the County Development Plan about takeaways in that location and I would have thought when this planning application landed in the planning department it would have been natural to talk to the members about it.
‘This is seen by the residents as a very disingenuous move and they are asking that the planning be called back under Section 44 of the planning act. I think this needs to be looked at again.
Director of Planning Sean Quirke said the application was received by the council on April 11 and there had been no submissions or observations on the application.
He said the restaurant and takeaway had room for 59 seats and it had been granted on June 1 subject to four conditions including a condition that the take away part of the restaurant couldn’t operate before 5 p.m.
He said that Blacklion was a neighbourhood centre and the council needed to provide services in the locality.
Mr Quirke said that any reasons to refuse the application would have been weak on that basis and said a precedent had been set in Wexford County Council which had a similar restriction on takeaways near schools.
However having refused a takeaway close to a school the decision was appealed successfully to An Bord Pleanala with a planning condition that the takeaway could only operate after 4.30 p.m.
Mr Quirke said the no fry zone directive had been added to the County Development Plan to limit children’s exposure to fast food but pointed out there was deli which sold hot food and confectionery in the same centre.
‘I don’t think the planners can decide when something becomes high in fat’, he said.
Mr Quirke added that he didn’t believed that Section 44 could be invoked but said the appeal process was still open and he had been informed that a party had approached An Bord Pleanala with a view to seeking leave to appeal.
Cllr Derek Mitchell said the whole situation is ‘embarrassing’ particularly in light of the fact that the council had recently picked up an award for obesity prevention.
He pointed out there was three large schools in the area and yet permission had been granted for ‘something that we thought had been banned’.
Cllr Mitchell said he would have preferred if the council had refused permission and let the matter proceed to An Bord Pleanala if that was the owner’s wish.
‘We need to tighten up the wording [of the no-fry zone directive] if it is not good enough to stop it’, he said.
Cllr Steven Matthews said he ‘found it incredible that not one public representative in Greystones put in a submission. People worked very hard to get this into the plan and they have a duty to look at the planning applications.’
Cllr Gerry Walsh acknowledged it was ‘unfortunate that no submissions had been lodged but people would have thought that because of the condition in the plan there was no need to do so. You could say that the decision had diluted the County Development Plan and undermines it.’
Cllr Joe Behan said ‘the decision makes an utter, complete and total laughing stock of the members. It’s unbelievable that we spent so much time talking about this provision and it was ignored. The Chief Executive has responsibility for the decision and he has a decision on whether to obey the policy set by the council or do his own thing.
‘The plan was one thing and then the officials did another. We made a decision to have no takeaways within a certain distance of schools and the officials flouted that decision.’
Cllr Behan said the position of the CE of the council, Frank Curran, ‘is untenable if he is going to stand over a decision which goes against the development plan’.
He said the planning decision ‘quite obviously contravenes the plan and should be revoked’.
Cllr Nicola Lawless said it was ‘extremely disappointing this (the restaurant and takeaway) has been granted considering the hard work done by the members. It has made a laughing stock of us. The County Development Plan was a massive piece of work and we put a lot of input into it. To me this is like you found a loophole in it.’
She conceded that maybe it had ‘been naive’ of the Greystones people to be ‘under the impression that because the directive was in place they didn’t have to put in a submission’.
Frank Curran, CE of Wicklow County Council, said the County Development Plan had been considered and hence the reason for the condition about not opening the take away before 5 p.m. He said he didn’t believe granting the application contravened the plan and again referred to the Wexford case which had been overturned by An Bord Pleanala.
Cllr Pat Vance said the council would get legal advice on the matter before the July meeting.