Galway Bay fm newsroom - Galway County Councillors will be engaging in discussions from this morning onwards in an effort to give as much scope as possible for the building of one-off houses in rural areas close to the City.
It was decided at the end of a lengthy County Council meeting last evening that Councillors would make a word-by-word assessment of the part of the new County Plan that relates to planning permission in the countryside.
A series of County Council meetings regarding the final details of the new County Development Plan began yesterday and planning in the countryside was again a contentious topic.
Councillor Jim Cuddy said there is a policy from what he termed the ‘Dublin mandarins’ to move people into cities. He stated that people should be facilitated to live in their own rural communities rather than – as he put it - ‘stuck in small places in towns where you wouldn’t swing a cat”.
However, Green Party Councillor Alistar McKinstry, said that people living in close proximity is the future – that is living within 15 minutes of all services so you don’t need a car. He contended that farmers were the best example of people who had a need to live in rural areas
However, the vast majority of Councillors championed the rural parish with Councillors such as Ivan Canning, Michael Connolly, Jimmy McClearn and Tim Broderick being vocal in this regard.
Councillor Séamus Walsh said Councillors must take hold of the plan and shape the wording to their satisfaction.
