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Sir
I would like to share with your readers the following letter, which I have sent to the Planning Department of the North
Tipperary County Council. It concerns the residents of Puckane, Dromineer and Garrykennedy and the challenges that they are
facing regarding the development of their villages.
I would encourage the people of North Tipperary to support these residents in their quest to have a fair say as to the
future of their beautiful villages. This is an excellent example of the David and Goliath story that we know so well today
- the ordinary citizen going up against the interests of big business. It is time that we all make a stand against this and
let our voices be heard. We have a right to an input in the development of our towns and villages and for these Village Design
Statements to be delivered in a timely manner. This issue not only affects the good people of Puckane, Dromineer and Garrykennedy,
but all of us in North Tipperary.
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I attended last Friday night's public meeting in Puckane, which was held to address the residents' fears on the future
development of their beautiful and very proud village.
The residents are dismayed, to say the least, that the Planning Department of North Tipperary County Council, as promised
in section 5.2 of the proposed modifications on the western area local area plan, has not upheld their part of the objective
to include input from them.
Objective 5 states: " to promote the variation of Village Design Statements (VDS) in consultation with the village
residents and land owners." This was published in January 2006. It is now March 2007 and we are no closer to having village
design statements in Puckane, Dromineer or Garrykennedy. As this is a stated objective, the failure to produce the VDS is
holding up real and proper developments of these strategic and beautiful villages in North Tipperary. I can tell you from
the meeting on Friday night that there is absolutely no chance of a spade being put into the ground in Puckane or in Dromineer
until the VDS is prepared with full consultation of the residents , who are the real stakeholders at risk here. I also am
worried about the 25,000 euros put aside for the three VDS. This figure seems to be on the low side.
I await your prompt response to let me know where we are and how we are going to resolve these issues. Let me be clear:
Sinn Féin support the people of Puckane, Dromineer and Garrykennedy on this issue and we state that there will be no development
until these Village Design Statements are delivered to promote proper and sustainable developments in conjunction with all
the residents of these areas. There was a commitment to deliver the VDS for Garrykennedy and Dromineer in 2006. That year
has come and gone now. Every day that passes means another chance wasted and the failure to enhance our very important and
beautiful villages of north Tipperary.
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