Planning laws not enforced over fear of losing cases

LOCAL authorities are slow to enforce planning laws because they are afraid of losing cases if they end up in the courts, Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said yesterday.

In her annual report, the State’s watchdog said more than a quarter of all complaints to her office involving local authorities concerned planning matters, mainly enforcement.

She said the number of planning complaints had risen from 64 in 1993 to 185 in 2003.

“They (local authorities) look down the line and see the courts and they don’t want to go there,” said Ms O’Reilly.

“What happens then is that a small infringement takes place, they don’t do anything about it.

“The infringement becomes bigger and bigger and bigger and suddenly you have a huge development, which may be employing lots of local people and then it becomes a major issue for the local authority to do anything about it.”

She said typical planning complaints included local authorities:

Not sending out a warning letter within the required six-week period telling the person to stop.

Not sending out an enforcement notice if the warning letter hasn’t been complied with.

Not acting if the developer fails to comply with the enforcement notice.

Ms O’Reilly said her office had no legal power to force local authorities to act appropriately and had to rely on its moral authority. The Ombudsman also brought to the attention of the Oireachtas the plight suffered by grandparents who are forced to look after the children of their drug-addicted daughters.

She said that her office took up a “very sad” case in which such a grandmother applied for a foster care allowance to look after her two granddaughters, but was turned down.