Waiving of development contributions mooted

THE possibility of waiving development contributions in respect of agricultural developments has been raised by an interdepartmental committee, asked to review the contributions.

Some local authorities already waive charges on agricultural buildings, but IFA is lobbying councils which levy the charges — including Cork, where IFA recently highlighted the plight of poultry farmer Kevin Ahern, at Fermoy, facing a development charge of €18,630 for effluent storage he needs in order to comply with the Nitrates Regulations.

Development contribution schemes are operated by planning authorities to capture the increase in land values that accrues from planning decisions, and to contribute to infrastructure and community project costs.

An estimated €2.1 billion will be collected in development contributions during the 2007 to 2013 National Development Plan.

An interdepartmental committee has been evaluating the effectiveness of the schemes.

Environment Minister Dick Roche said his Department will follow up the committee’s report with guidance to planning authorities on a number of key issues identified by the committee.