Cllr calls for answers as Council admits to contact from Church of Scientology
A Fine Gael Councillor is calling for answers after Meath Co. Council confirmed they were contacted by an off-shoot organisation of the Church of Scientology in relation to a controversial development in Ballivor.
The council had previously denied any contact by Narconon, but yesterday admitted it had given the company permission to change the use of a 56-bed nursing home in the village to a drug rehabilitation centre.
The admission comes on the back of months of speculation locally and just days before residents plan to stage a protest at the site tomorrow.
Local Fine Gael Cllr Noel French called the revelations "worrying" and said they have scuppered plans by residents to object through the planning process.
Narconon has failed to answer any previous press queries on any involvement they plan on having in the village of just 1,700 people.
Cllr French is now calling on the council for answers on why members were not notified of the decision when it happened over a year ago.
"Meath County Council confirmed yesterday that in August 2016 they were requested by the Narconon Trust c/o McGill Planning, 7 Fitzwilliam Street Upper, Dublin 2, to make a declaration in accordance with Part V of the Planning & Development Acts as to whether or not a change of use from a nursing home to a residential drug rehabilitation facility was an exempted development," he said.
"The Council issued a declaration on 2nd October 2016 that the change of use as outlined in their submission was exempted development (and therefore would not require planning permission).
"The council had previously said “We had previously confirmed that there had been no recent requests for pre-planning meetings and no recent contacts relating to the development and that remains the position.”
Cllr French said this communication had come as a result of his query last week to the planning section of Meath County Council.
He said: "A nursing home and a drug rehab centre are not the same thing.
"The interpretation of it being the same is convenient, to say the least, but others could argue it is not the same at all, plus the impact on the local community is completely different.
"Certainly the scale of a drug rehabilitation centre of 56 beds in a village of 1700 is worrying.
"Yet an official or officials can make such a determination without referring it to councillors or putting it into the public domain.
"I understood that all planning matters were displayed publically on the planning website but this now does not appear to be the case.
"It is worrying that decisions in which councillors or the public are not involved in can be done in secret."
“It surprises me that Meath County Council did not provide this information when requested to do so in December, but it really amazes me that it was not up on the website. I have dealt with the planning section of Meath County Council previously and I have always found them efficient and helpful.
The Ballivor says No group had planned to challenge a change of use for the building but this revelation removes that opportunity.
They said: "We now know that Narconon is planning a drug rehabilitation centre in Ballivor but we should have known this from the start actually from October 2016 when the planning decision was made.
"Instead we had to find these things out ourselves and spend time and energy we could devote to other work.
"This was not on the planning file online as far as I could see and the planning file has now come down from the website. I will be asking Meath County Council to ensure that this does not happen again.
"All planning material relating to a site should be put online, not just some of it. I am really annoyed by this revelation."
Dear Councillor,
I wish to update you in relation to the position with the Old National School at Ballivor, the existing planning permission and the ongoing local concerns about the future use of the site.
We had previously confirmed that there had been no recent requests for pre-planning meetings and no recent contacts relating to the development and that remains the position.
We have now carried further searches to establish if there had been any applications or contacts in previous years by The Church of Scientology or Narconon.
The Council can now confirm that in August 2016 we were requested by the Narconon Trust c/o McGill Planning, 7 Fitzwilliam Street Upper, Dublin 2, to make a declaration in accordance with Part V of the Planning & Development Acts as to whether or not a change of use from a nursing home to a residential drug rehabilitation facility was an exempted development.
The Council issued a declaration on 2nd October 2016 that the change of use as outlined in their submission was exempted development (and therefore would not require planning permission).
There is no record of any contacts by The Church of Scientology and there is no record of any further contact since then by the Narconon Trust.
As previously outlined I would emphasise that the final arbiters of whether or not planning permission is required are An Bord Planeala and it is open to any person to submit a further Part V application for determination at any time
