Westmeath County Council have voted to seek legal advice on taking out an injunction to halt the construction of an asylum centre which could accommodate 1,000 migrants in a Lissywollen site near Athlone.
As flagged in a Gript report two weeks ago, Independent Ireland Councillor Paul Hogan, said that he had looked at the relevant planning legislation and he claimed that the Ministerial approval for the IPAS Centre under Section 181 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 does not apply to a function reserved to local authorities for the construction of temporary dwellings. That reserved function is outlined in the Local Government Reform Act of 2014, he said, referring to a 1948 Act which can prohibit the erection of temporary dwellings.
Today (Wednesday), at a special meeting of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District councillors issued an Order under Section 31 of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act 1948, which they said gave them powers to prohibit the erection or retention of temporary dwellings on the site at Lissywollen.
Section 31 of the Act allows for the making of an Order prohibiting the erection or retention of such dwellings if local representatives are of the opinion that such erection or retention would be “prejudicial to public health or the amenities of the locality or would interfere to an unreasonable extent with traffic on any road”.
Councillors also endorsed proposals to seek “appropriate legal advice” to enable the County Council to take out an injunction to stop work on the construction of the proposed tented accommodation for asylum seekers in Lissywollen.
It is the first time that the 1948 and 2014 acts have been used to try to halt the construction of an asylum centre. An amendment to the Planning Act usually means that the Department of Integration can bypass planning laws to undertake such construction.
Two weeks ago, Councillor Hogan told Gript that he had looked at the relevant planning legislation and he claims that the Ministerial approval for the IPAS Centre under Section 181 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 does not apply to a function reserved to local authorities for the construction of temporary dwellings. That reserved function is outlined in the Local Government Reform Act of 2014.
The motion that was proposed by Councillor Hogan states that the Council was making an order “prohibiting the erection of temporary dwellings as it is our view that their erection is prejudicial to the amenities of the locality and interferes unreasonably with that area.”
In the meantime, Councillor Hogan and other local representatives are of the opinion that work on the site should not proceed. It was explicitly outlined that the order made by the Council “applies to specified land under which construction is currently taking place.”
Having been passed by the local municipal council the Minister will now have to outline why the IPAS Centre which is to consist of tents and other temporary dwellings ought to proceed.
Others have raised questions about the various permissions granted to other centres but they have not had the backing of elected bodies.
It once again highlights the opaque process surrounding the awarding of contracts, and the ability of the State to in effect force the centres into being with no local consultation and with the backing of what are effectively emergency planning provisions.