Tipperary Council approves new land use development plan for Clonmel

A new land development plan for Clonmel and its environs was formally approved by councillors at last week’s meeting of Tipperary County Council and will come into effect on March 25.

The unanimous approval of the Clonmel & Environs Local Area Plan 2024 to 2030 marked the conclusion of a long and complex process that began in October 2022.

This included extensive consultation with the public through public information events and invitations for submissions, workshops with local councillors as well as consultation with a range public bodies, government departments and community organisations.

The LEA plan replaces the Clonmel & Environs Development Plan that was approved over a decade ago in 2013 before the amalgamation of South and North Tipperary County Councils.

The final stage of the formation of the plan was finalised at last week’s county council meeting in Nenagh where councillors approved recommended material alterations to the draft plan.

In presenting the final plan for approval, the Council’s Director of Planning Services Sharon Kennedy praised the level of public engagement in the drafting of the Clonmel & Environs LEA Plan.

She pointed out that the draft plan attracted 119 public submissions.

Clonmel Fianna Fáil councillor Siobhán Ambrose, who proposed the plan’s approval, said the 119 submissions showed the level of engagement in this process by members of the public and the inordinate amount of work put in by the council as a result of those submissions.

She said this was a very important plan as it had huge implications for Clonmel. She pointed out that one area of concern for members of the public had related to the policy on one-off housing.

She noted they had wanted in the plan to make sure there was no impediment that would prevent those who want to build on a family land bank.

“There were a number of people that were caught out with respect to this particular issue. I want to acknowledge the work that went into this by council officials and councillors,” she told the council meeting.

Indeed, more than 50 of the public submissions the council received to the draft LEA plan highlighted that the council’s planning policy that only allowed one-off rural housing in Clonmel’s environs on the grounds of economic need was too restrictive and called for it to be changed.

The Council responded with a limited relaxation and the new plan now also provides for one-off housing to be permitted in certain circumstances where a planning applications meets a “social need”

Under the new Clonmel Local Area Plan, one-off housing is now permitted where the applicant meets:

1) An economic need and “there is no availability of alternative sites”

2) A social need “where the proposed site has been in the ownership of immediate family members for a minimum of 10 years and there is no availability of alternative sites”.

The new policy adds that “an existing and/or shared domestic dwelling entrance of the applicant’s family dwelling should be used where practicable, and it will meet sightline requirements”.

Clonmel Fine Gael Cllr John Fitzgerald seconded the approval of the new Clonmel Local Area Plan but highlighted his concern that the Council has left itself open to legal action in terms of confidentiality clauses entered into on land that was previously development land that has been rezoned or dezoned.

“I would ask that we would be cautious where this would have happened that we don’t leave ourselves open to any sort of action from existing landowners who have been dezoned,” he said.

Fine Gael party colleague and fellow Clonmel Cllr Michael Murphy supported Cllr Fitzgerald’s comments.

He separately highlighted the concerns of residents in the Meadowlands/Moangarrif area about future access to land for residential development.

These concerns aside, Cllr Murphy endorsed the new Clonmel LEA Plan. “It has been a long road to get to where we are. There were a number of contentious issues which I think have been resolved and we now have a plan.”

Speaking to The Nationalist after the meeting, Cllr Murphy particularly welcomed the relaxation in the one-off housing policy and pointed out he is engaging with a number of young couples preparing planning applications for homes thanks to this change.

Meanwhile, responding to the issue raised by Cllr Fitzgerald, the Council's Director of Planning Sharon Kennedy said there was a legal process that was being followed to the letter of the law by the council in relation to rezoning and dezoning.

She explained there was no liability or exposure when the council went through the process correctly, which it has done.