Gormley orders council to redraw development plan

ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley yesterday intervened in the controversial Monaghan County Development Plan ordering councillors to go back to the drawing board.

He issued a formal direction instructing the county council to vary the plan in the interests of future sustainable development in the county.

He made the intervention following concerns about the extraordinary levels of zoned land proposed in the plan, which was adopted on March 20 this year. It had provided for an astounding increase of population in the county over the next six years, approving planning for an additional 102,000 people.