When Labour Councillor Emma Cutlip questioned Louth County officials recently about the lack of progress on a Drogheda Area Plan she was told that preliminary work has been done but no further action can be taken due to a High Court ruling against their counterparts in Meath County Council.
On the 1st of July, the High Court released its judgment in the case of Protect East Meath v. Meath County Council [2022] IEHC 395 which requires Meath County Council to re-do its County Development Plan with respect to the southern environs of Drogheda.
Councillor Cutlip said “It is vital that the fastest growing town in Ireland – a town which has every right and expectation to be a city – can develop a local area plan to guide development and sustainable growth in the area.
“Drogheda and its residents cannot be held to ransom because Meath County Council’s development plan was found to be developer-led and not properly within the national planning framework and required environmental protections. This is their failing and they must remedy it without delay.”
“It is simply not good enough that Drogheda should be without its statutory development plan because Meath County Council were developer led in making their county plan.
“Issues like this highlight why Drogheda must have its own civic administration. Drogheda will continue to fall between the Dundalk and Navan cracks if we cannot find a pathway to a local authority for Drogheda”.
