Reply To: Positive changes at An Taisce

The point that Eanna makes is simple, if your one off house is refused it is generally because it is in breach of planning and development guidelines.

An Taisce objected to 276 dwellings during 2003 out of 70,000 units completed or a whopping 0.0039% of all dwellings.

The Healy Raes (I have my own Danny poster) are promising people we’ll get you planning permission, when the planners don’t give it in comes the section 140. According to the family when the permission is refused it is all An Taisce’s fault.

An Taisce object to a disproportionate number of one off houses in Kerry because the County has a dispropotionate number of one off houses proposed in conservation areas (SAC’s)

This is the nub of the problem, the OECD average of SAC as a proportion of overall land mass is 14% the average in IUCN ( association of world National Trusts) countries is 16% in Ireland it is 1%

If this is such a beautiful country why is only 1% worthy of full protection? To make things worse Danny and Michael can circumvent this protection through section 140.

What Eanna is basically saying is that An Taisce as a private organisation is longer prepared to do the governments job for free, our policy is still that the broadly accepted principles of spatial planning should be utilised but that the organisation is not prepared to be the media punch bag for political dynasties such as Jackie & co.