Fraction of unauthorised developments reported in Kildare lead to legal proceedings
Photo for illustrative purposes only
So far this year there have been 190 unauthorised developments in Co Kildare, with just five leading to formal legal proceedings.
This came to light following a question from cllr Chris Pender of the Social Democrats at the recent Municipal District meeting of the Kildare-Newbridge members.
“Can the council provide detailed information on the number of unauthorised development reports received within the municipal district over the past 12 months? " he asked.
"And can this include the locations of these developments and the current status of each case?” he added.
However, his reply wasn’t as district-specific as he required.
“The planning department’s system does not provide a breakdown of unauthorised development (UD) cases by municipal district,” said Mary McCarthy, administrative officer in the planning section.
“Members have previously been provided with statistics of unauthorised development cases for the county, but be advised that we cannot discuss unauthorised development cases in the public domain,” she said.
A little earlier, cllr Brian O’Loughlin of Fianna Fáil got a little more specific about what he deemed a possible unauthorised development.
“Could the council investigate the new fencing erected by Roadstone at the pedestrian entrance along the path and around the tower on the Hill of Allen,” he said.
“It is ugly and aggressive, more fitting for the Prison Service than a place of natural beauty, and an important heritage site,” he said.
“The process for reporting unauthorised developments is through the completion of a UD complaint for,” Ms McCarthy clarified.
“On receipt of a complaint a new UD file is opened and referred to the Senior Executive Planner (SEP),” she said.
“The SEP then assess the contents of the complaint and the file is then referred to a case officer for further investigation,” she said.
“Each UD is unique with a different set of circumstances, all of which are considered at the referral stage.
“In order to protect the integrity of the council investigations, unauthorised development cases will not be discussed in the public domain,” she concluded.
