At yesterday’s monthly meeting of Mayo County Council, Killala based cllr Jarlath Munnelly raised a motion regarding forestry applications in the county.
The fine Gael cllr requested clarification from Mayo County Council on the protocols for the planning office regarding making a submission or commentary on forestry applications.
He says that this is a big issue in his area, with a lot of applications for forestry in recent times which is becoming an increasing ‘blight on the landscape’.
Cllr Munnelly takes issue with the fact that it is so hard to get planning permission for a house, yet forestry applications go through quicker as they are sent to the Department of Agriculture.
This, he believes, poses a conflict of interest – and the council should have more of a say on the approval of forestry applications.
Cllr Munnelly has been outlining his concerns to Midwest Radio’s Rian Bailey:
