Bypassing local democracy: Far too naive

Resolving the housing crisis may suggest measures that fall outside the normal comfort zone of communities facing extensive development.

That, however, is not licence for building free-for-all, which is what seems to be facing an east Cork village.

So much so that Cork County councillors wants to take a test case against Bord Pleanála to try to block planning permission for hundreds of houses which they predict will swamp the village.

That granting the permission would fly in the face of the council’s Local Area Plans is at least as significant a reason to be concerned.

How can local authorities — the bureaucracy delivering local democracy — function if its plans can be set aside by using an option made available under the Strategic Housing Projects scheme?

This allows developers proposing 100-house-plus developments to bypass the local planning process and have a ruling made by Bord Pleanála.

This pro-developer measure is not only anti-democratic but it also seems naive in the extreme.