Councillors row back on rezoning plans, but also call for reform

Westmeath county councillors have rowed back on plans to increase the amount of land zoned for housing in rural towns and villages.

They came to the decision to keep parcels of land in Killucan Rathwire, Rochfortbridge, Ballymore and Glasson unzoned following recommendations by the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) that the plans were “unjustified”, in conflict with other policies and “would result in leapfrogging of development to more remote areas removed from services”.

The decisions were made at the final online meeting to discuss amendments to the Draft County Development Plan (2021-2027), on March 22, and were in line with recommendations made by council chief executive Pat Gallagher.

Cllr John Shaw said that he was “reluctantly willing to accept” the opinion of the regulator in relation to land south east of Killucan Rathwire as he would be “fearful” of what it might do existing zoned lands.

“Right across our county we have lands that are zoned that may never be developed, because the owner might not be in a position to do so or there might be a bank involved. I think the whole attitude to developing our towns and villages needs to be changed. There needs to be some sort of carrot and stick approach or a general [planning] boundary around villages or towns and see who is willing to come forward to develop land. I know there is land in Killucan Rathwire that is zoned and may never be developed during the life of this plan,” he said.

Cllr Denis Leonard said some might say there are too many houses being built in villages but in places like Kinnegad and Killucan nothing has been built since the crash in 2008.

“If certain people had their way, the whole of rural Westmeath outside Mullingar and Athlone would be zoned High Amenity. I think we need to get practical. There are some towns and villages that need to be sustainably planned and a carrot and stick approach used, as Cllr Shaw suggested,” he said.

Cllr Hazel Smyth said there should be some sort of “motivation” to get landowners to develop land that has been zoned residential; and provision had to be made for recreation and amenity facilities to go with any development.

Cllr Frank McDermott said there should be some mechanism in the county development plan that when it comes to land zoned residential, “if you don’t use it, you lose it”.

Cllr Paddy Hill thought that “our problems here are because of the National Planning Framework”, which is “not favourable to rural Ireland”.

He said policies that curtailed the growth of villages and towns are “part of the reason financial institutions like the Bank of Ireland are pulling out... they see no future”.

“They have their homework done for 10 and 20 years down the road,” he said. The land in Rochfortbridge that the OPR made a recommendation about is east of the village. Senior planner Cathaldus Hartin told members that while the OPR was against rezoning the entire tract, the person who made the original submission was only looking for a small part of the site rezoned.

Cllr Shaw proposed that the smaller area be zoned residential, as it is a relatively small portion. He said Rochfortbridge is a “fast growing town” and a low density development such as this could alleviate housing shortages in the area.

Cllr Leonard seconded Cllr Shaw’s proposal and said the people of Westmeath need to be able to buy houses where they can afford them and not be pushed into cities, where prices are beyond the reach of many.

Cllr Emily Wallace said that she had been contacted by people unable to get housing in Rochfortbridge and development has to be welcome.

Cllr Liam McDaniel noted that “we need a bit more development in Rochfortbridge” and he has been contacted by local people unable to get planning in and around the town.

Director of services, Barry Kehoe, said the modification proposed by Cllr Shaw was “minor in nature” and could be made.

In the case of land in Ballymore, Mr Gallagher recommended that there is “sufficient land for zoned in Ballymore for residential purposes to meet population requirements up to 2027”; he also pointed out that there were “deficiencies in the existing waster network”.

Mr Hartin told councillors that in its recommendation, the OPR directed the council’s attention to the fact that there “isn’t sufficient headroom in terms of wastewater treatment capacity” in the village.

Cllr Vinny McCormack “reluctantly agreed” with the chief executive’s recommendation, but said there needs to be a review of the zoning process. He said he had raised the waste water treatment capacity issues in the village before and expressed concerns about the impact it would have on what is meant in terms of the CDP if it wasn’t addressed.

“I’d like to call on the council to move heaven and earth to resolve the waste water treatment capacity issues so as not to hold back further rezoning in the future,” he said.

Cllr McCormack said that people are “encouraged to live within the confines of towns and villages and here we are not able to provide the infrastructure needed”.

He also noted that because of the issues in Ballymore, he hoped that when planning applications were made for rural housing in the locality “it would be looked on a little differently”.

Cllr Tom Farrell echoed Cllr McCormack’s sentiments. He said that Ballymore was a “lovely rural village” and it is “being held back because of the regulator and Irish Water”.

He said that the issue needs to be resolved quickly because otherwise Ballymore won’t be able to develop.

Councillors also agreed to adopt the chief executive’s recommendation on the rezoning of a parcel of land in Glasson following a recommendation from the OPR that, among other things, it would undermine other development in the area.

Cllr Aengus O’Rourke said that he “reluctantly accepted” the recommendation, but added that he shared his colleagues’ frustrations. He said he too believed that it was time to “take a closer look” at the zoning process in villages.

While councillors were prepared to not proceed with their rezoning plans in Killucan Rathwire, Rochfortbridge, Ballymore and Glasson, it was decided to reject the chief executive’s recommendation when it came to a parcel of land in Castlepollard.

The piece of land is to the north west of the town and is adjacent to an existing development.

Cllr Paddy Hill said that he could not accept the chief executive’s recommendation. He said that there are already 30 houses built in the adjoining development and the builder wants to complete the project. “I don’t see any good reason why the site can not be completed and am proposing to go ahead and rezone the site.”

While the OPW highlighted that a small section of the site was at risk of flooding, Cllr Frank McDermott said that area could be “eliminated” from the rezoning process.