New Louth County Councillor James Carroll welcomed a commitment from the Minister for the Environment John Gormley to extend the current five year timeframe in which people must commence building if they have been granted planning permission.

The Drogheda East County Councillor who attended his first ever County Council meeting on Friday 19^th June has been pushing for a number of months for the inclusion of a section in the new Planning and Development Bill extending the five year time-limit of planning permission.

Councillor Carroll states that “In the current economic climate, it is vital that people who have struggled hard to get planning permission are not penalised because the permission might lapse because they now find that they cannot get a loan”.

Section 23 of the new Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009, which Councillor James Carroll has been pushing for, amends section 42 of the 2000 Act so that holders of planning permission may apply for an extension of the five year period where necessitated by “considerations of a commercial, economic or technical nature beyond the control of the applicant which substantially mitigated against either the commencement of development or the carrying out of substantial works pursuant to the planning permission”.

“This Section takes into account the reality of the current tough economic climate and introduces a much-needed and necessary flexibility in the planning permission process”, concluded the 25 year old new County Councillor.

ENDS