The Irish Georgian Society has made a submission to Kildare County Council expressing its grave concerns by the contents of a draft Ministerial Direction relating to the zoning pf lands at Donaghcumper, Celbridge, Co. Kidlare.  The submission asserts that that, having regard to the international heritage importance of the Castletown / Donaghcumper / St. Wolstan’s historic designed landscapes and having regard to the planning history of the site at Donaghcumper, zoning of lands at Donaghcumper for town centre use would render the Celbridge Local Area Plan 2017-2023 incapable of implementation and, therefore, in contravention of the duty of the planning authority to secure objectives of the plan under section 15 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and the core principle of the Development Plans Guidelines for Planning Authorities: that plans should set realistic objectives that can be secured. The Society, therefore, suggests that it is correct to materially alter the zoning of the Donaghcumper lands to a zoning for open space as zoning the Donaghcumper lands for town centre use is not in compliance with guidelines to planning authorities issued by the Minister under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and is therefore in breach of section 31(1)(c) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended.

Read the full submission here.