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MEATH CRONICLE ARTICLE - Jan '01

The new year is set to bring renewed controversy in the area of planning and development in Co. Meath. Indeed, it is likely to become the major news issue of the year with the adoption of the new Co. Development Plan which will govern growth and expansion locally for the next five years. Given the present emphasis on and interest in planning and rezoning issues this may not be surprising but the whole area has been further highlighted by the fact that Meath Co. Councillors and the Department of the Environment & Local Government are now seriously at odds over aspects of the new plan which is due to be adopted this month.

A war of words has broken out between the Dept. and local councillors over what the former regards as a breach of the strategic guidelines for development of the Greater Dublin area. Colrs. in south-east Meath want to rezone additional land in Dunboyne for housing and in Clonee for industry. The Dept., however, says that further housing development in this area is not on, adding that there are sufficient lands already rezoned for housing. Adding further to the controversy is a Co. Council plan to build a new town at Kilbride, close to the Dublin county boundary near Mulhuddart, that would grow to a population of 5,000 and incorporate industrial, commercial and community facilities. As long ago as last June the Dept. called the Kilbride project into question, saying it would be seriously concerned at such a proposal and asking the council to omit it from the draft development plan. The Dept. is anxious to limit the expansion of existing towns in the burgeoning south-east Meath area while at the same time concentrating growth in designated growth centres such as Navan where the infrastructure is there to cope with a big growth in population. It is emphasising restraint in places like Dunboyne, Ashbourne and Ratoath because of the severe constraints on water and waste-water facilities in the region. It also sensibly feels it would be foolhardy to decide on major rezonings while a decision is still awaited on the route of the new Dublin-Navan rail line. Some of the lands selected for rezoning actually encompasses the route of the old railway which may form part of the new route.

Some Meath councillors are indignant about what they see as a diktat from the government and feel the independence of councillors is being undermined if they are forced to submit to the will of the Dept. on this one. Residents in Dunboyne, more than most, have reason to be nervous about the new Co. Development Plan as it relates to the rezoning of a further 200 acres of land in the town. Previous rezoning of land where houses were built is being directly blamed for the flooding of homes in November which left several families homeless. They say most of the lands earmarked are on the floodplain of the Tolka River and, if built upon, could exacerbate future flooding problems. This is quite apart from the fact that hundreds more houses could end up destroying the character of the village and turning it into an extension of the north Dublin suburbs.

Given that several thousands of their constituents are opposed to the rezoning plan and that their desire for more land rezonings flies in the face of advice of the Dept. of the Environment & Local Government and planners in Meath Co. Council, members of the public are entitled to know where exactly the pressure is coming from to rezone large areas of land and whose interests the councillors feel they are serving - developers or the public.

With the revelations emanating from the Flood Tribunal over the past year, there is a climate of distrust and suspicion attaching to almost all things connected with rezoning right now. All planning and rezoning decisions, in particular, should be conducted in an open and transparent manner with full and proper accountability at all stages. In the forthcoming debate in Co. Hall on the adoption of the new development plan, it is to be hoped light can be shed on the background to these controversial rezonings.