The decision by Donegal County Council to refuse planning permission for a new cinema in Donegal Town has been branded “extremely disappointing and a shocking decision to take.”
Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher said the decision should not have been taken without fully exploring all options open to the council before flatly refusing the application.
His statement comes on the eve of a public meeting to be held in the Abbey Hotel at 8pm on Monday November 27th to voice opposition to the plans to refuse permission for the project.
Deputy Galagher said “I have reviewed the planning file at length and I am shocked as to how this application was dealt with by our local authority, we all as public representatives and moreover in the general public appreciate fully that planning applications have to work through a process.
“But in this instance I personally feel that the full options open to the local authority were not fully utilised and explored before the application was refused by them – further information could have been sought or indeed an extension of time in order to deal more comprehensively with this application.”
Pat the Cope further added that this development along with other ongoing developments in the general Donegal Town area- were acting as a catalyst for change and progress.
He added the decision reached by Donegal County Council this week in terms of this application is sending out the complete wrong signal of how we as a local authority are open to new developments and further progress in our region.
“It is pointless lobbying for development, rural rejuvenation and further growth, if we as a county are not open and forthcoming to working with new business interests and employment opportunities. This decision has the potential to set us back years as an area, that is progressive and forward thinking especially at a time when we are crying out for employment, providing growth within our regions and building on the social fabric of our towns and villages so that the quality of life for our residents improves.”
Pat the Cope stated having visited Donegal Town over the weekend and spoken directly with the general public, he has witnessed first-hand the sense of anger and complete disappointment at this lost opportunity for the town, emotion and sentiment are running very high on this issue and he can understand why personally.
“I am calling on all parties to work together with a view to securing a positive outcome in the event of the developers reapplying to Donegal County Council, there was neither logic or reason to this decision of refusing permission and immediate steps need to be taken by all public representative in order to salvage this situation – firstly, we need to reassert that Donegal Town is open and welcoming for all new business, we need to immediately put in place a town plan that facilitates new business ventures and opportunities so that the entire town and surrounding areas can prosper.
“The current outdated town plan needs to be scrapped and the new plan which is under way needs to be fast tracked – we cannot allow another 10 to 15 years of lost opportunities to occur in Donegal Town as we have witnessed in the last period. The new town plan must reflect the needs of the community and then facilitate the delivery of requirements of areas such as Donegal Town – so that decision such as we have just witnessed can be avoided in the future.
“The local authority must become an active agent for development and progress, it must identify the needs of the community and facilitate their development when applications come before them rather than what we have just witnessed. Opportunities such these only arise on few occasions in rural Ireland, we must be careful we do not miss such opportunities and we must maximise their potential for our areas. I firmly believe that this is another example of how our local planning offices should never have been moved out of our local area offices, it is essential that planning functions be restored to Donegal Town public service centre as well as the other locations in the county.
“Planning services delivered in our own regions provide better decisions based on local knowledge and are more in touch with the local interests of the areas. The planning department of any local authority must be the vehicle that delivers growth and expansion but in this instance it has failed to do so, this cannot be allowed to be repeated – this decision, bad as it seems now to us all – must be the trigger for change that is badly needed in Donegal town,” he concluded.
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