Councillors reject flood risk advice from chief executive on development

Meath councillors have rejected advice from their chief executive Jackie Maguire that a site near the Boyne coast should be left undeveloped because it is in an area prone to flooding.

In 2019, Boyneside Camping applied for permission to create 75 hardstand pitches for caravans and motorhomes and green space for 24 tents along with services and facilities near Mornington. Consultants for the company said there was a defined need for camping in the region. However, An Bord Pleanala said that the conversion of the former driving range into a campsite should not be allowed because of flooding risk.

It said the proposed development was on a flood plain and campers would face “an unacceptable risk". Parts of the site had been waterlogged in February of that year, it said.

ABP also said that the site could have a significant effect on the Boyne estuary special conservation area. Councillors meeting to discuss the proposed new county development plan this week heard of a proposal to give the site tourism zoning.

Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan called on councillors to reject the chief executive’s recommendation to deny development on the site.

She said she believed that any issue to do with possible flooding could be dealt with at the planning stage and she was supported in this by Fianna Fail Cllr Tom Behan.

The councillors voted by 21 votes to 13 to reject the executive’s recommendation.

The flooding issue was also put forward when a proposal to change the zoning on a piece of land in Athboy from rural area status to community infrastructure was put forward by independent Cllr David Gilroy.

The chief executive recommended that the councillors follow the advice of the Office of the Planning Regulator to not proceed to community infrastructure zoning. Supporting an amendment to the draft county development plan to allow for the new zoning, Cllr Gilroy said the change would have no impact on the council’s core strategy. He said there were no other lands available in Athboy for this type of development.

Fine Gael Cllr Joe Fox said that he had known the particular site in the town and had never seen it flooded. There was no other land available for this type of development, the site already had zoning and he thought that that zoning should be retained.

Council planner Padraig Maguire said that the Office of the Planning Regulator felt that zoning for a development for elderly people should not be allowed on a site that was prone to flooding.

Councillors voted by 31 to five to reject the chief executive’s advice against the zoning proposal.