Gormley set to intervene in controversial rezoning

ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley looks set to ask county councillors in Waterford to revisit a controversial vote which saw them rezoning 63 acres of agricultural land last month.

A 13-8 majority of the county council voted to zone the land — which is part of a Garda investigation into planning irregularities in the county — for industrial use, against the advice of their officials. Mr Gormley said this week that promoting “good planning” was one of the reasons the Green Party went into government. “I want to ensure that we have the best planning in the Dungarvan area,” he told the Irish Examiner. “If you go ahead with a decision, against the best advice of your planners, then that is bad planning.” He urged them to “go back and have a rethink”.

However, to date there has been no official written advice from the minister or his department to the council to change the rezoning decision. “I have said very clearly that I don’t want to be in a position to use my powers to intervene,” said the minister, “but I have said that if the changes aren’t made and they go against the specific advice of planners, I will have to.”