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Ghost Estate Report Highlights havoc caused by politicised planning system.
"Having recently crystalised the cost of the banks bad lending, we now have actual figures for the impact that lending has had on the ground. It does not make for good reading.
Our planning system and planning law were simply unable to cope with the massive lending explosion that happened through the naughties up to 2008. With no obligation on local authorities to adhere to a National strategy, it was every county for itself and the system buckled under the strain and the expectation.
Neither was there sufficient robustness in the system to give guidance to Councillors who had reservations, when confronted bythese massive new development proposals. Instead we had within the political system a commitment to ramp up development in the misguided believe that construction could be the bedrock of our economy.
So that before the bust construction accounted for 24% of all economic activity, over twice what is considered sustainable in a modern economy.
The New planning Bill which I guided through the Seanad has been well received but it is of course too late to reverse the damage done.
The next challenge is to deal with the ghost estates and in that regard I look forward to the recommendations of the expert group of archetects, planners, engineers and social housing policy analysists .
We need to deal with the blight around the county , finish what can be finished and pull down what cannot. Otherwise we will be looking at hoarding and fencing, weeds and roads to nowhere for the next twenty years."