Donegal Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Inishowen Development plan must proceed in new year- Mac Lochlainn

Published: 30 November, 2009

Inishowen Development plan must proceed in new year- Mac Lochlainn


"North Inishowen towns waiting for decades"


Cllr Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has said that a development plan for Inishowen must proceed in the New Year. He was speaking after his motion calling on Donegal County Council to access funding in the forthcoming budget for an Inishowen Development plan was successfully passed at today's council meeting.


He said that North Inishowen towns like Carndonagh and Moville had been waiting for decades for town plans and that this has to be urgently addressed.


Cllr Mac Lochlainn said:


"It is simply unacceptable that large areas of Inishowen have been relying on a generic county development plan as a framework for planning in their communities. In particular, the towns of Carndonagh and Moville have been waiting for decades for town plans. They have been failed for too long and the council now needs to urgently address this matter".


"Since my election in 2004, I have repeatedly challenged the council's planning department on this failure and last year, I was assured that a "Local Area Plan" approach would be the way to address the gaps across the county. The elected members reluctantly agreed to this approach as a compromise. I am now calling on the planning department and the senior management of the council to honour this commitment".


"All of the people of Inishowen deserve to be consulted and directly part of a plan for their communities. The people of Buncrana and those living in towns and villages along the border have had plans in recent years. Now it is time for all the people of Inishowen to benefit. When the economy eventually starts to turn around and house building gradually recovers, we need to be positioned in such a way to ensure that we manage that development in the interests of all not the few".


ENDS