asked the Minister for the Environment why he did not confirm the compulsory purchase order made by Wicklow County Council in respect of 17 acres of land owned by a person (details supplied) in County Wicklow which is badly needed to continue the council's housing programme in the area.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Wicklow CPO.
10.
The compulsory purchase order in question related to the acquisition of some 17 acres of land, roughly one mile from Enniskerry, to provide for housing needs for the next 12 years.
In determining this proposal, I gave full and careful consideration to the evidence presented at the public local inquiry and the report of the person who held the inquiry. I am required by law to base my decision on this evidence and report and am precluded from taking account of other considerations. It emerged from the inquiry that the acquisition of land for housing development on the scale and density proposed would be in direct conflict with the policy of Wicklow County Council, as expressed in their development plan, to permit only a small amount of individual residential development at Monastery, Enniskerry, which would serve to consolidate existing development in the area. Moreover, I had to take account of the statement in the development plan that the council do not intend to provide services or public lighting in the area, or to alter the present standard of the road system which is considered to be inadequate to cater for large-scale housing development. In these circumstances, I considered that I could not properly confirm the compulsory purchase order.
The information given by the Minister today is far more detailed than was given to the council when the decision was conveyed to them. I ask the Minister if a decision to allow a compulsory purchase order could not have been made in view of the fact that there is a need for the council to have available to them a bank of land for future use? Despite what may be in the development plan at the moment, it might be of use to them in the future if the CPO had been agreed.
Regrettably not. The request was for a specific proposal in a specific area. There was a clear conflict between the proposed use which the council had to specify in their application for the CPO and the zoned and indicated use as outlined in the development plan of Wicklow County Council. For those reasons and for others which have been referred to already, it would not have been possible to confirm the CPO.