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Off the Cuff with Gerry Slevin - "What's Going on in Puckane?"
What's going on in Puckane?
Five weeks ago, the seven elected County Councillors for the area were written to and asked to explain why they acted
as they did in relation to the rezoning of 105 acres of land for development in the village. The residents want an answer
but, seemingly, are finding it very difficult to pin them down as to their reasons for going along with the rezoning.
Then, on Monday of last week, a deputation from the Puckane Development Association handed in a letter of protest prior
to the scheduled County Council monthly meeting demanding that the Development Plan be revoked. Four of the seven councillors
were there and, apparently, it has been revealed in private that massive pressure was placed on the councillors to vote as
they did to rezone the lands.
Massive pressure. By whom? What was the nature of the pressure? Was the extent of the pressure so strong as to place the
seven councillors in such an awkward position that it made it so very difficult to respond to the queries of the Development
Association?
Well, if public representation in North Tipperary has reached a stage where members are debarred from being true to themselves
and to their constituents because of pressure, whatever that pressure might be,then it's high time to take a serious look
at the type of representation we are getting.
We are all well aware of the scene that has hit Dublin over the years in relation to planning, zoning and rezoning of
lands etc. It's a sordid scene that has emerged into the public domain through the tribunals. There is no suggestion that
a similar trend is happening down here but at the same time, the failure of seven seasoned members of North Tipperary County
Council to have the courage of their own
convictions and respond, whether for good or evil, to a reasonable query, is, to say the least, baffling.
What is so terribly difficult about answering a query about an issue that affects an area so seriously and on behalf of
which, public representatives are supposed to be concerned?
And it would really make you wonder what's going on when you look at a front page picture in last week's "Guardian"
taken on the occasion of the Development Association's visit to the Civic Offices with a letter of protest. A failure to reply
to the Association's query is bad enough, but for the four councillors there to have the audacity
to get into the photograph with the protesting deputation .. well .. it would make you wonder, wouldn't it?
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| Click to "The Guardian" website >> |
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