Tara Landscape plan can bring enormous benefits

Dear sir - The Draft Landscape Conservation Area for Tara-Skryne comes up for decision by Meath County Councillors very shortly. This LCA concerns the pre-eminent landscape of the Tara-Skryne area which is of local, national and international importance, and is acknowledged as such in the Meath County Development Plan 2007-2013. This appears to be lost on many of the objectors to the scheme. It is timely to remind ourselves of the benefits that will accrue from the adoption of this LCA; regrettably, this aspect has been totally forgotten about in recent commentary. Having taken part in the consultation process and having studied all the documentation, the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society believes that the LCA has the potential to bring enormous benefits, provided it is implemented carefully, and with vision, and is done so in close collaboration with the local people. As stated in the letter we sent to all Meath county councillors in June, it is our view that such an LCA should strengthen the protection of this unique heritage and cultural landscape, facilitate and inform a long-term programme of research and better interpretation and promotion of the heritage, facilitate the sustainable development and protection of this unique rural environment and greatly enhance the lives of the local residents and communities. It can also greatly assist the local farming community (based on international best practice models), attract greater numbers of tourists to Meath, sustain existing businesses and foster and enable new enterprises to facilitate and service these new demands, with several towns and villages becoming gateways to this unique landscape experience. Many existing businesses in Meath have suffered from a downturn, not only as a result of the economic recession, but also as a result of the four new motorways running through the county, bypassing some of the local towns and villages. It is therefore all the more important that Meath is promoted as a heritage destination now. The Tara Skryne Landscape Conservation Area is an opportunity to be grasped. This LCA can become both the nucleus of this tourism destination and its trademark. Many negative things have been said about the Draft LCA since it was published. Most of the fears and concerns expressed are, we believe, groundless, being based on misinformation and misunderstanding of the scheme. Sadly, much of this misinformation would seem to have been put about by some county councillors and TDs in Meath. These have heightened the fears of people living in the draft designated area. Although much of this misinformation has been addressed in the manager's report, it would seem to have had no effect on those spreading alarm. May we remind everyone that this LCA was clearly signalled in the County Development Plan 2007-2013, which included most of the planning parameters now apparently causing alarm, and the landscape character assessment given in that plan covers a larger area than that contained in the Draft LCA. This plan was voted in by the county councillors in 2007 following full public consultation. We note also that this LCA is the first of its kind to be undertaken in this State under the National Landscape Strategy and it is a pilot scheme for the whole country. Therefore, it is a new form of process. The project team was established in March 2009 and the formal consultation process began shortly thereafter. Given the nature, importance and origins of the scheme, it would not have been unreasonable to expect that the county councillors who are now voicing objections would have set out to keep their constituents informed during the past year, and would at least have encouraged them to participate in the various meetings which were held in the area, where their concerns and questions could have been addressed. If, following reflection, the members of Meath County Council vote to reject this plan (as some stated publicly even before the deadline for submissions had closed), they will, in our view, be rejecting a plan that would confirm Meath's status as the 'heritage capital of Ireland', together with all the potential tourism and business opportunities that that would present to the county. They will, in fact, be rejecting a plan about which they have been briefed at every stage, a plan that involved extensive public consultation, a plan that has cost considerable sums of money to prepare, and which they originally agreed to. Yours, John P Clancy, PRO, Meath Archaeological and Historical Society Parsonstown, Batterstown.