Is McDowell being shafted?
- This topic has 10 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 4 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
At last some light is emerging on the subject of his Roscommon villa.
From RTE this afternoon;
McDowell must submit application: council12 October 2004 14:24
The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has been told he must submit an application to Roscommon County Council for the retention of a new home he has built near the town of Roosky.
In a statement, the council says the decision was made was because the building, which is now almost complete, is significantly different to the one originally approved.
The council originally granted permission for a house to be built on the site at Carranadoe in July 1999, and construction work subsequently began.
On 13 August, the council received an application for a three-month extension to the five-year life of the planning permission so the house could be completed.
However, the council deemed that, because the house was different in external finish and in relation to floor levels that are 2m lower than originally approved, an extension could not be granted.
Reacting to media reports of the refusal on RTÉ’s Questions & Answers last night, Mr McDowell said he and his wife had engaged the company Griffner Coillte to build the house and a firm of engineers to prepare the site plans in conformity with planning requirements.
My question is if the project had been completed within the 5 years would the Council have left sleeping dogs lie regardless of the fact that:
1. That the floor levels of the building has been lowered!
2. The external finish is not in accordance with the original permission;I’ll not get into the politics of how Sky News (famous as diligent examiners of planning files in Roscommon) got to hear about this within a few days of the Council writing to the developer.
-
Probably,
Whilst I would never condone anyone acting outside the parametres of a planning permission it does seem a little like someone out to make a name for themselves in Roscommon.
It does expose him to frivilous and vexatious objections on the basis of his public profile. It also exposes him to nimby objections from locals ‘well he isn’t from around here’ and in fairness it is a holiday home.
All in all I would be surprised if he is refused retention, but does go to show that a massive proportion of one-off houses in scenic areas are holiday homes and not for cash strapped locals who have been ‘driven from the property ladder by ‘greedy developers’ ‘
Nothing beats sustainable, spatially planned, well conceived profitable development that has been passed by top flight professional designers and consultants.
-
-
-
I read in todays Irish times that McDowell has taken Roscommon County Council to Court over them refusing him planning permission to add a load of extra space to his oneoff holiday home in a scenic area. Does this mean he is above the law? What do you reckon it is like architecturally? It looks a bit crappy to me.
-
Being a regular victim of the vagaries of the planning laws on the one hand I am pleased that the Minister of Justice feels agrieved by the subjective nature of their implementation.
On the other hand, I am incensed that once again another senior political figure feels comfortable dispensing with the services of architects when building in what sounds like a highly scenic area.
What really surprises me is that no newspaper has managed to acquire an image of the original permitted development, as given that Griffner Coillte did not exist in 1999 I doubt very much that the design of the original house had quite the same Alpine kit-house leanings…
Should the Minister be obliged to submit a new planning application, and he should!!!, quite apart from the inappropriateness of the design, his neighbours should object on the basis that having him as a neighour detracts from the amenity of the area and could be injurious to the values of their property…
-
Being a regular victim of the vagaries of the planning laws on the one hand I am pleased that the Minister of Justice feels agrieved by the subjective nature of their implementation.
On the other hand, I am incensed that once again another senior political figure feels comfortable dispensing with the services of architects when building in what sounds like a highly scenic area.
What really surprises me is that no newspaper has managed to acquire an image of the original permitted development, as given that Griffner Coillte did not exist in 1999 I doubt very much that the design of the original house had quite the same Alpine kit-house leanings…
Should the Minister be obliged to submit a new planning application, and he should!!!, quite apart from the inappropriateness of the design, his neighbours should object on the basis that having him as a neighour detracts from the amenity of the area and could be injurious to the values of their property…
-
-
Originally posted by burge_eye
I think I remember one of the news articles saying that he did use an architect but I’ve never seen them mentioned.Quite a disparaging piece on this in yesterdays sunday indo
well written article in the tribune also on sunday about the “petulant posturer”, as the journo in question put it. Is he being shafted? no, but he is being treated according to proper planning procedure,something that rarely happens in rural Ireland. However I should imagine he would be a schoo-in for retention so hiring two senior counsel, a BL and a firm of solicitors makes him look even more like the bully he comes across as in the media.He is the very vision of the unequal society he holds in such intellectual regard. I would not be suprised if he was assassinated by some nutter ala Pim Fortyn in the Netherlands…
-
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
