Ballivor lodges 'section five' submission

Two submissions questioning Meath County Council's opinion that the Narconon Trust would not need a new planning permission for a drug rehabilitation facility at the former national school site in Ballivor have been lodged.

Local councillor Noel French confirmed that he had submitted a 'section five' application for the Ballivor community on behalf of the members of the group Karen Traynor, Sinead McGrath, Ann Corrigan, Linda Wilson, Melanie Drake, Sue Davis and Claire O'Meara. Attached to the submission was a copy of a petition objecting to the proposal, signed by more than 600 residents of Ballivor.

The submission questions whether the council was right in giving an exemption to Narconon Trust in the change of use of the building from a nurisng home ot a drug rehabilitation facility.

Cllr French also submitted a second section five application on behalf of the councillors in Trim Municipal District.

"Meath County Council will now register the submissions and hopefully this week will send it on to An Bord Pleanala. The time scale for a decision on the two submissions is unclear but the Board has been asked to deal with the  submissions in a speedy manner as it is a controversial matter. The community group is happy with both applications and feel that all the concerns with regard to the planning issues and possible impacts on the Ballivor community are well addressed in the two submissions," said Cllr French.

The current planning permission on the site is for a nursing home development. It recently emerged that Meath County Council had made a declaration back in 2016 that a drug rehabitiltation centre would be exempt from needing a change of use.