Time limits need to be put on An Bord Pleanála decisions says Kilkenny Councillor Pat Fitzpatrick
He was speaking about a decision where Aldi were granted planning permission for a store in the town
A limit needs to be put on the length of time An Bord Pleanála has to deliver its judgements.
That’s the call from the Chair of Kilkenny County Council.
Cllr Pat Fitzpatrick made the appeal during the Castlecomer Municipal District meeting when he and others from the electoral area were presented with proposals for the town’s mobility plan for the next five years.
They’re set to look at the plan in greater detail before discussing it at next month’s meeting.
However, arising from the conversation it was raised how the local authority had granted planning permission for an Aldi store, which would bring with it parking spaces for about 128 vehicles in the town, but this was appealed to the planning board over a year ago.
Cllr Fitzpatrick says there’s a simple solution to prevent such long-term waits on projects like this:
“I’d certainly want to be saying to central government that they need to regulate and look at An Bord Pleanála and make them put statutory time limits that need to be put on some of these planning judgements that An Bord Pleanála are making because it is taking far too long”.
“In this instance, we are in excess of a year for a supermarket for Castlecomer that a lot of the people want in Castlecomer and the surrounding areas” he added.
