Bid to build bridges between developers and green lobby

ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche said yesterday he was keen to build bridges between developers and conservationists.

As the country awaits the minister's decision on the proposed M3 motorway through the historic hill of Tara, Mr Roche said yesterday the first requirement was for both developers and conservationists to listen to each other.

National Museum director Pat Wallace has made a strong submission to Mr Roche urging him not to give the green light to the controversial M3 motorway and he is due to give his decision shortly.

Mr Roche told the General Council of County Council's (GCCC) annual conference yesterday that in some cases the very valid views of both developers and conservationists get lost in the crossfire.

"But with careful planning, and due sensitivity to the balance involved in genuinely sustainable development, it is possible to move forward without compromising anybody's core principles," the minister said.

Development and conservation are not mutually exclusive, Mr Roche told over 400 GCCC delegates in Elphin, Co Meath. "What I strongly support and have been at pains to point out is that a good balance can usually be achieved by goodwill and genuine dialogue," he added.

Among the other speakers at the GCC annual conference were: An Taisce president Eanna Ní Lamhna, MEP Mairéad McGuinness and Irish Examiner columnist and author Noel Whelan.

Ms Ní Lamhna sparked a lively debate on future planning, particularly in rural areas. GCC director Liam Kenny said their three day conference was designed to give practical help to councillors.

Councillors have faced severe criticism for the high level of expenses they clock up travelling to conferences. The latest were Clare county councillors, who clocked up 165,000 travelling in expenses travelling to conferences and summer schools last year. But Mr Kenny said he made no apologies for their conference because it is designed to be directly relevant to councillors in their work. "Training is available to high level people in all organisations and councillors also need it."

The GCCC does not have a supervisory role in the level of expenses that councillors claim it is the local authorities and the Department of the Environment ultimately who control these, he added.