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[Press Release: October 30th, 2004] De Burca calls on Minister for the Environment to send department official to monitor final Wicklow County Council meeting on Draft Development PlanWicklow Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca, has called on the new Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, to send an official of his department to monitor Monday's meeting of Wicklow County Council at which its Draft County Development Plan will be finalised.In a letter sent to the Minister for the Environment last week, Councillor de Burca claims that the making of the Draft Wicklow County Development Plan to date has been mired in controversy and that the level of public disquiet in the county concerning the Draft Plan has been unprecedented. In her letter, the Green Party councillor refers to the powers of the Minister under the Planning and Development Act 2000 to refer a Development Plan back to a local authority in the event that it fails to comply with regional or national planning policy. She claims that it will be necessary for the Minister to have a department official present at Monday's council meeting in order to monitor the way in which the Wicklow Development Plan is made. "I feel this will be vital in order to allow you to be fully informed as to the legality and acceptability of the final draft of the Development Plan, and therefore to assist you in deciding whether it will be necessary to refer the Plan back to the council or not" she states in her recent letter to the Minister. Councillor de Burca claims that the credibility of the planning process in County Wicklow is at stake and has called on Minister Roche, both in his capacity as a TD for Wicklow, and as Minister for the Environment, to restore public confidence in the process by ensuring that the making of the new County Development Plan is properly monitored by his department. "Media reports following each of the recent council meetings dealing with the Draft Development Plan have revealed fresh controversies and scandals" says de Burca. "Minister Roche has talked a lot about encouraging greater accountability amongst local authorities in relation to the public they serve. I believe that he has a responsibility as Minister for the Environment and Local Government to monitor the highly questionable planning decisions of Wicklow County Council that have informed the making of its Development Plan to date, and to intervene if necessary". Councillor de Burca claims that she was contacted by an official from the Minister's department on Friday regarding her written request for an official to be present at next Monday's council meeting. "The official in question made it clear to me that my request was an unusual one that would not be conceded to under normal circumstances" says de Burca. "However it was agreed that the matter would be directly communicated to Minister Roche for a final decision. In my opinion, the presence of a department official at the meeting on Monday could have a very significant bearing on the final shape of the Development Plan".
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